SBC Milk Tea

Its the 29th of February and what better way to end the month of love with something refreshing and sweet.

Thanks to my Seattle's Best planner, I can get a lot of free drinks and pastry stuff from them and the first coupon was for a SBC featured drink. This month of love, SBC brings you milk tea with a twist.. I really really love milk teas and I can exchange for a blended frap anytime! What's unique with this version of milk tea is that they have red tapiocas and whenever I take a sip, I get a hint of caramel. Not the regular sugar syrup but real caramel..

The cons about their drink was just that it was too sweet compared to my favorites. The tapiocas were somehow under-cooked and not that satisfying. The pros now is that after that too sweet taste, you get that bitterness from the tea and the combination of tapioca, simple syrup, caramel, milk, and tea - SBC style - is good. I will definitely give it another try and ask for less syrup. ^.^ 

Drinks cost around php 100 - 110 for medium and large.

Happy Leap Year everyone! 

Chicken Curry (Japanese Style)

I was really craving for something curry since last week. So when I got the chance to go grocery shopping for myself, I grabbed an S&B curry paste or mix and cooked myself Chicken Curry today! ^.^ I bought it at Shoppers Mart in Binondo for Php155. 

S & B Golden Curry Paste

It is divided into two packs of 4 cubes each. And when I cooked it, I used one pack of 4 cubes and lots of water. I do believe that I used too much of curry because I had a lot of yummy sauce in the end, but it doesn't matter to me. The sauce and plain rice are bff so there, problem solved. :D

what's inside...

I really like Japanese curry compared to other country's own version of curry. It has that hint of sweetness that makes it really good. And just like what I have said, it is also a PERFECT match for plain rice! O.o It definitely made me eat more rice.. (so long eating less plan).. .^^.

The finish product...

What you'll need are the following:

oil

onion, minced

garlic, minced

chicken pieces

carrot and potatoes, bite size

button mushrooms, optional

water

2-4 cubes S&B Curry Paste

*there are no exact measurements because everything depends on how much you want of it. :)

Just saute the onions in the oil and add in the garlic ones the onions are translucent. Add in the chicken pieces and wait until it is almost cooked through before adding the carrots and potatoes plus the button mushrooms. Give it a few stirs before adding in the water. *The volume of water added is how much sauce you want to have. Simmer until the vegetables are tender. Lastly, put in the curry cubes and mix well until all of it is dissolved. Add more water until desired consistency is reached. ^.^ Then you are done and can serve it with a hot plate/bowl of steaming rice! 

... it may not look that nice but it is really great... promise! ^.^

I will definitely cook this again and might try it on fried chicken, tonkatsu style. Definitely quick and delicious!

Cafe Breton

Crepes are one of my favorite foods, next to wanton noodles and pasta. I have tried crepes from different establishments but I think Cafe Breton serves the best of them all. 

de javu, the best

It was my second time to be visit and it was the only time I noticed that they only serve crepes and drinks. They have both sweet and savory crepes. On this visit, we had their De Javu, La Pinay crepes and Double Mocha and Hot Chocolate drink.

Double Mocha

What I love - really love - about their crepes is that the crepe itself is very juicy and the skin is very thin. What makes it juicy is that they put butter inside and each crepe has a special sauce made by Cafe Breton. The crepes are then cooked to perfection, they don't rush like other do, they just make sure that each one they make is perfect.

Hot Chocolate, warm and smooth

La Pinay

Every bite is something great and comforting. Now who doesn't want something comforting right? I know I do! ^.^ The thing that makes me sad is that it is a bit pricey + 5% service charge. :( I guess, I'll just use this as a treat for myself the next time. A guilty pleasure I guess. ^^,

Cafe Breton (French Crepes and Fine Coffee)
Ground Floor, Midtown Wing
Robinsons Place Ermita
(in the middle of Flapjacks and Italiannis and near Starbucks)

Tuna Fettuccine with Basil Oil Tomato Pasta

Since I had some  leftover-for-ages fettuccine pasta, I thought of cooking myself spaghetti. I also decided that since I wanted something a bit healthier, ^.^ I  used tuna instead of the usual meat like pork. In my opinion, this is quite easy to make. While I was making this, the whole kitchen started smelling like an Italian kitchen and it was really nice to have a change of having a western aroma around.

The basil oil (or just how I want to call it) is made by putting minced basil on a bowl of olive oil. It can actually last longer and the essence of the basil leaf is still there. You can put it on a container if you plan to use it for a longer period of time.

So here is the recipe! ^.^

Tuna Fettuccine with Basil Oil Tomato Pasta
- basil oil
- 1/4 of an onion
- 4 cloves of garlic
- a can of tuna chunks, drained (I used century tuna in vegetable oil)
- tomato sauce
- tomato, diced
- salt and pepper
- 250 g fettuccine pasta

Cook the pasta according to package instructions bu I did add salt and oil to my water.

For the sauce, sautee the onions until its a bit translucent then add the garlic and some of the basil oil. You can decide on how much of the basil oil you want to add. Definitely no measurements required). After that, place the drained tuna chunks and cook for a while. Add in the tomato chunks as well as the tomato sauce. Let it simmer while adding salt and pepper and sugar if you please. :)

Once the pasta is cooked you can now put it together with the sauce and voila! Tuna Fettuccine with Basil Oil Tomato Pasta!

Godere! ^.^

Sushi, Sashimi, Maki @ Tempura

All Tempura branches are offering 50% off in their sushi, maki and sashimi. This happens from 2pm to 5 pm! :) Last Friday, me, my brother and my cousin from Shanghai went there to catch up with one another. We arrived there before 2 pm so we decided to order ebi tempura first. (can I just say that I think that it is quite overpriced, really overpriced) o.o

Ebi Tempura, not part of the promo

Uni Sashimi

It is actually my first time to eat uni or sea urchin and it isn't that bad.. Not bad at all.. :)

Hawaiian Roll, so-so

Tamago Roll, love

Fried Cali Maki, not really recommended.

Salmon Roll, good good.

Salmon Sashimi

So if you are a big fan of sushi and sashimi, then drop by Tempura from 2pm to 5pm from February 1 to 28. ^.^ Here is a list of their branches..

Morning Breakfast

Mom's Homemade Chicken Salad + Coffee is what makes breakfast so worthwhile and great...

Bookshelf

I recently cleaned up my stuff(S) and as always, there were a LOT of things that I had to let go even if it has some kind of sentimental value. After cleaning and arranging my things, I decided to take a picture of my books. It was then when I realized that I have almost half of it unread!! Half of it! I never really finished Breaking Dawn, Eat Pray Love, The Time Travellers Wife, Three Weeks with My Brother, Da Vince Code, One Day, and the Kitchen God's Wife. All of which I have started to read halfway. ^^, As of this moment, I'm just trying to finish John Grisham's, The Partner. 

Last year I planned to finish 10 books and sad to say, I was only able to finish 9. I guess it's not that bad, since I'm just a book away to achieving my goal. To make things more challenging, I will do my best to finish "12" books this year! So wish me luck!