Beef gyudon recipe from Heny Sison’s cooking class
Heny Sison is known hereabouts as a maker of fabulous wedding cakes. But at her cooking school in Waltermart Makati, we were surprised to find out that she teaches a variety of cuisines too. That’s how I found myself one Sunday sitting in her class for some lessons in Japanese cooking.
In the agenda were such Japanese delights as temaki-zushi (do-it-yourself rolls), rolled omelette, beef gyudon with a separate recipe for the accompanying sweet-vinegared ginger (shoga no amazu-zuke), and green tea or macha jelly.I must say nothing beats the Japanese cooking class we took before in Manila Diamond Hotel since we had five-star ambiance and a Japanese chef to teach us, but Heny’s tops the scale too for insider secrets shared and audience participation. We just wished this Cake Lady smiled more 
Somehow, am intimidated from cooking making sushi. Not a big fan of the food too. So I had to take comfort in the gyudon recipe that Heny shared in the class. Beef gyudon is, like, my Japanese comfort food. I always order it in Yoshinoya, Rai-Rai Ken or any of those fastfood restos. Judging from the cooking class recipe which I eventually tried at home, it’s very easy to make too.
Here is the beef gyudon that Heny made in the class:
‘it’s a small world’ at Hong Kong Disneyland, a must-see!
I realized after our last trip that Hong Kong is indeed one of my favorite cities. It is almost a good neighbor of Manila since it’s so near and there is still so much about it I want to explore in terms of food, shopping and places.
But I have to admit it was quite a downer visiting Hong Kong Disneyland when it’s raining. Riding the Orbitron in our raincoats wasn’t exactly my idea of fun.
My advice really is not to go to Hong Kong Disney during the rainy season, even though I can just imagine how crowded it is during the summer. Size-wise, I found this Disneyland quite small, must be only as large as our very own Enchanted Kingdom. I realized after visiting Hong Kong Disney that we are doing very well with Enchanted. It is just the legacy of the Disney name, the Disney “magic” and the way they market the Disney brand with an array of merchandising products that makes it such a hit with tourists.
Anyway, if you only have less than a day to tour Hong Kong Disney, it’s a small world is one of the theme resort’s newest attractions and definitely one of the highly-recommended rides. In a nutshell, it’s a boat trip guests take to replicas of the different regions of the world with their own landmarks and Audio-Animatronics dolls dressed in national costumes, singing “it’s a small world” in different languages, including Tagalog (kay liit lang ng mundo…..)
WordCamp Philippines 2008 – WP users, are you ready?
It was The SweetHeart who encouraged me to set my sights on being a part of WordCamp Philippines 2008 earlier this year : “There’s a WordCamp in your area, why don’t you join?”
I took note of the fact, even though I half-suspected he was ready to relinquish his Web Monkey duties. You see, when something’s ready to be fixed in my blog, I either call on friends or request the sweetheart to put it on his “honeydew” list (honey do this, honey do that) 
Admittedly, am the lazy WordPress user, one of those persons who’ve taken to heart the definition of blogging as a “one-click publishing platform.” I can hardly be bothered with technicalities because writing blog posts (and newspaper articles) is draining and time-consuming enough, as it is.
Bagnet at CFront resto .. because pork fat rules
The past week had me longing for the decadent pleasure of deep-fried pork. I eat chicken or fish most of the time and I get moments of breaking the rules, such as when lechon with its golden crispy is served at work for somebody’s birthday, or a tempting picture of tonkatsu rice topping stares at me in a Japanese restaurant..I simply can’t resist!
And this was what happened while I was strolling through the bayside restaurant row in Mall of Asia called San Miguel by the Bay (nice view , pungent smell from the bay, ewwwe). I had just come from the gym a few walks away and there goes a place named CFront Bar & Restaurant which advertises “Ilocos Bagnet” in bright lights. I simply had to make a turn-around and try.
It didn’t help that CFront has this see-through window where you can see the bagnet (Ilocos’ version of chicharon) being deep-fried in a giant custom-made vat.
Royce chocolates in Hong Kong
I wasn’t able to visit the Royce chocolates stall while in Singapore, so it was quite a relief to find a Royce counter in Harbor City, Kowloon. My HK-based friend Mira told me Royce is available in City Super, I didn’t quite know there are a number of them in the territory. Note the picture: the shop girl didn’t want me to take a picture but I guess it was too late
Silly me wanted these Royce chocolated-dipped potato chips to myself, and would have bought a dozen, if my budget allowed. They were simply addictive! What could be more sinful than Royce’s divine chocolate and potato chips combined??
First visit to Hong Kong Disneyland
… and so it came to pass that we ended up in Holly wood.
The Disney Hollywood Hotel in Hong Kong Disneyland
It was raining, but we enjoyed it just the same.
(to be continued)
US Embassy Manila NIV Unit : highly unprofessional
Between paying $131 for a US visa application and trying your luck in the slot machines, I’d choose the latter. At least with legalized gambling, you get a free Coke and a sandwich. Not with the d*ickheads-in-residence at the NIV Unit of the US Embassy in Manila who go through their job without rhyme and reason. I actually thought being a “diplomat” was a distinguished, honorable profession until you encounter them in real life (okay, I dated one of their ilk in my younger years, but that’s another story!)
Cases in point: they don’t maintain eye-to-eye contact. All they care about is making notes on their computer screen
They talk to their counter seatmates (and laughing at that!) while Filipino visa applicants are there in front of them, waiting for their fate to be decided.
Some of them actually use headsets with microphones so that the rest of humanity can hear the interrogation and humiliating comments they subject Filipino visa applicants to. Comments that are uncalled for and unwanted, like this personal encounter I had with a certain Mr. Norman Culbertson (???) who told me to get a fiancee visa when I was clearly JUST applying for a vacation!
Dear Uncle Sam, not all Filipinos want to live in America, or are desperate to go there…
The United States of America, for me, is a place for visiting family and loved ones. If I had really wanted to stay there, I would have done so ten years ago, when I set first set foot on the US mainland and had all but one kid. If I had really wanted to stay there, I would have acceded to my mother and sister’s requests to petition me for the Green Card. In all instances, I’ve said NO because silly old me wishes to make my home in Manila where I feel comfortable with the smog, the dirt and the ‘flying’ jeepneys.
I am sure this sentiment is shared not only by me but countless other Filipinos who have OPTED to stay in the Philippines. Because living in the Philippines is a matter of choice, not desperation. Some of us have been the world over, in places more beautiful than some parts of America, and came back like a prodigal child because in our hearts we feel there’s simply no place like home.
Home for us is the Philippines and Asia, a world blessed with eternal sunshine, resplendent beaches. al fresco cafes and cities that never sleep. This is my comfort zone, a queer place where some houses are separated by clotheslines, not white picket fences; where malls have ‘midnight sales;’ drivers pride themselves of road shortcuts; and pot-bellied men drink San Miguel Beer or Ginebra in roadside stores.
At the US Embassy Manila NIV Section, Filipinos pay $131 to be rudely treated & insulted (1st of a series)
As this blog’s contribution to the “so-called” Filipino-American Friendship Day, let me share my own experience on how Filipinos are treated like second-class citizens in their own country in that premium piece of land called the US Embassy Manila on Roxas Boulevard.
Ironic but true. Are Filipinos masochists? Or is it just those imperious American Embassy “diplomats” who lack respect for Filipinos (and their hard-earned $131), denying them of their right to a US visa within one minute of seeing them?
The US Embassy in Manila has of course become less “inhuman” already. I remember the time when I got my first US visa in the 90s. People camped outside the embassy premises as early as 10 pm for their interview the next day. Twelve or more hours of waiting for an interview that would only last two minutes or so.
Still, what is highly doubtful about the visa process is how the counters are manned by babes-in-the-woods visa officers who are armed only with their own biases and bigotry about the Philippines and Filipinos. Extreme biases and bigotry at that.
The official US Embassy Manila document says: ” Consular officers make their decisions based on their …. their familiarity and understanding of the Philippines, and the accumulated information available to them based on previous Filipino visa applicants.” This is of course baloney. Chances are these visa officers (especially the younger ones) have not been outside Serendra or the US Embassy Clubhouse to lay claim to an iota of understanding of the Philippines. Vacationing in Punta Fuego doesn’t count either. They have not lived with Filipinos or assimilated themselves to Filipino culture, not unlike the fallen US Peace Corps volunteer Julia Campbell who should be called a heroine in her own right. The “accumulated information” part if questionable as well. If Juan flew the coop upon arriving in California, does it mean you have to judge every Pedro, Miguel and Alejandro of the same motives?
We are not oblivious to the fact that the Philippines has one of the highest rates for illegal aliens in the United States. It is a shame really. For every TNT Pedro who sent a balikbayan box of Spam to his folks back home, poor Pilar has to take the brunt for it when it’s time to apply at the embassy. And yet, it probably escapes US Embassy Manila people that the reason why illegal aliens increased was because their dimwitted visa officers issued visas to the wrong people, based on their false assessments and shortsighted knowledge of their country of assignment.
(to be continued)
Food-trippin’ in Singapore … almost;)
Am I glad none of my friends told me to eat at Pepper Lunch in Singapore. I’ve really had enough of Pepper talk awready. I honestly think the blog is more entertaining than the food
We got to eat at No Signboard Seafood resto instead. It was good that their branch in the Esplanade Mall was just a short walk from my hotel. Every implanted Pinoy in Singapore recommends tasting their crabs which is heavenly. We ordered the one in chili sauce which didn’t taste so spicy but looked like it had been mixed to perfection with some egg sauce or such. No Signboard is so called because it started as an obscure hawker stall.
Blogging since 2004 and recently married to Mr Z. I can't live without coffee....and brown sugar.
