Asean Culinary Delights @ SM Aura

A celebration of cultural parallelisms, SM Aura Premier hosted the ASEAN Culinary Delights Food Fair at the SMX Convention Center recently.  Amid cultural presentations and cooking demos, booths featured sate pentul from Indonesia, onde onde from Malaysia, laksa from Singapore, chicken relleno from the Philippines, tom yum kung from Thailand and beef noodle soup from Vietnam.

World Food Expo 2014: Handcrafted Chocolates!

See what people can actually mold out of chocolate?  Here were some of the remarkably detailed entries I saw at SMX the other week:

WOFEX 2014: Cakes!

I attended the Olympics for chefs the other week. Here are some of their amazing works of art:

Bb Pilipinas takes on Manila Water's Toka toka

I love water.  I love it so much I hardly drink anything else (this proves I'm not an alien, right?:p) I even carry a huge bag just to accomodate my tumbler. Believe it or not, I can spend an entire day watching fish swim in a pond, or sit an entire afternoon observing how rain splatter carelessly on plants and windowpanes. Fountains delight me, waterfalls excite me. Water is just amazing.

Cheat Day Saturday

I preach the art of portion control when it comes to satisfying your cravings. Yet every Saturday (ironically the day we usually attend the anticipated mass), I intentionally forget the recommended serving size for each dish I encounter, relishing the company of family & friends.  Here is a list of stuff you might want to try on your cheatday:

Burts Bees: 30 Years of Hiving Happiness

I have a confession to make. I'm addicted to peppermint. 

Bastille Day in Manille 2014

I wasn't able to catch any movie from the French Film Fest this year. Because of the weather, I wasn't able to attend Fete de la Musique either. But I was able to enjoy Bastille Day in Greenbelt the week after as H.E. Ambassador Garachon partied with premier French luggage brand, Delsey.

Cozy Travelwear Fit for All Seasons

It's always fun to travel. This season, I'm actually grateful that we have more opportunity to sing in the rain & hold private concerts when it's traffic :p 

PAT: Pizza Madness

My mom craved for pizza for 9months when she had me. Shakey's. Manager's Choice. She paired each greedy bite w/ ripe mangoes. 

So it was quite expected that I would love the same things too as soon as I learned how to chew complex food.

Here is my list of delectable pizza I've tried recently other than Shakey's thin crust & Pizzahut's cheesy crust:

I Do Nails, McKinley

I had a great time this weekend trying out new stuff in various proportions.

PAT's Top 10 Figure Flattering Outfits

Contrary to what most people think, I am neither skinny nor proportional. Like most Filipinas, I'm petite & pear-shaped.  I have a protruding, ever expanding hip bone that bothers me. But my flaws just make dressing up all the more exciting & I'm happy I get to experiment on a daily basis. So here are some of my favorite outfits this season: 

PAT's Top 10 Desserts You Ought to Try

Bikini season is over; we can indulge again!:p Here are some desserts that would make this schoolyear a little more cheerful despite the El Niño heat:

PAT's Top 10 Most Memorable Steaks

This Fathers' Day, eat like a man & treat your dad to some nice steak. Here are some of the most memorable & affordable meats I've tried over the past year.

Maleficent: Hope for the Wicked

It's nice that modern stories are written in such a way that we are able to play as psychologists for an hour or so & analyze the character flaws of the protagonists so we can understand or at least humanize the mean antagonists. So much so that we can actually relate to the latter's plight & pain. Somehow it's comforting that the sinner can actually be a saint. 

In a country troubled by so many problems, it feels good to somehow visualize a world that can be perfect in the end despite having flawed leaders; that the nation can be great again despite the prevalence of grey. Aided by fiction, we are slowly convinced that we just have to have faith in the omnipotent Creator that we are always where we should be. We just have to be patient. If we strive hard enough & love unselfishly, our sins would be forgotten by the people who do matter & eventually, we can live in blissful harmony.

I love Maleficent's world. It's where true love exists and world peace is just a shadow waiting to introduce itself to you as your fairy godmother.

Ms Teen Earth & Little Ms Earth Philippines 2014

Great things start with small beginnings is my favorite Milo jingle. I longed so much to be a graceful gymnast because of that ad ( I adored Bea Lucero). But some people would argue that nature limits what can be nurtured. That theory somehow comforts me & I can say I've moved on.

Pet Chow Gourmet Style

As a child, we adopted askals & stray cats at home. They would comfortably mingle w/ my lolo's chickens & my grandmother's Siamese, Bronson (who had special priviliges the other cats were not able to enjoy i.e. imported cat food & warm milk).