Zita

H's 30th Birthday Celebration

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:22:41 GMT

This year H decided to have a hush hush birthday celebration. Of which I agreed to, after all it is his special day. So I thought maybe I'd make us a Lebanese dinner. I've previously posted the recipes on the dishes that I made such as Bamja. The chickpea salad recipe I'll post in due time and as for the kafta, well that was store bought, but I did acquire the recipe from Aunty H when I came to Sydney last week, I've yet to try it though.

As for dessert I bought us some really nice cupcakes from Cupcake Parlour. The owner of the shop I met a few yrs ago when she was just selling them at the markets (both Power House and West End). P and R came over for coffee and dessert.

Over all it went nice, just the way he wanted it.

Sophie's Dedication

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 10:59:30 GMT

When a girlfriend of mine found out they were preganant, she asked if I could be one of the godparent. I immediately said yes, not that I would refuse to be one anyway! I think you can't refuse an offer such as that, especially if that friend of yours is one of your childhood friend. So we flew down to Sydney for the event, and I also decided to stay a few days rather than just be there for the weekend.

The event went smoothly as what the parents would expect. They've been pretty lucky cause they had friends from church who helped organised it. I didn't have to lift a finger at all! LOL

It's been great to catch up with Ia and her family. Thank you for letting us crash into your place for a few days. I must admit I had a good time, and I haven't eaten as much fish as we did. At one point P even said "Fish again Mum!" as if to say can we have something else?

There is also the incident of getting lost while driving in Sydney (luckily I was not in a hurry to get to A-Z, it did take me afew hrs to get to my desitination) , forgetting to pay toll because my hired car didn't have an E-Tag, and window shopping at one of the best laid out shopping centre I have ever seen.

Prep

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:12:06 GMT

I haven't posted anything in ages. Sorry for being slack. I did part time work last december. Next thing you know it's Xmas and summer school holidays. So I have been pretty busy.

First week in school is going well. So well, that when he came home he told me that he loves going to school, hurray! Making lunch and afternoon tea is not as hard as I thought it would be. When he was going to kindy at Lady Gowrie, part of the fees included their food, so I have been spoilt on that part

He's also back to tennis lessons this arvo. The coach even asked if he was playing over the holidays. I assume that she's impressed with P's volleys. H has been playing with him out in the courtyard and it also helps that they hit the ball when we went to Couran.

Swimming lessons starts this Saturday morning. Yes, I finally gave in to booking P into a weekend activity. I have been procrastinating on that bit for the longest time! From this Saturday onwards I will be one of those lunatic parents rushing around town to get to their childs activity on time. Sigh....

Enjoy the photos.

I'd like to thank family and friends who have given me their wisdom on what to make for school lunches and tea!

Thanks

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 08:14:48 GMT

This is for my sister. Thank you for sending the Ben 10 costume for P! By the way, the postie forgot to give me a parcel notice ergo we didn't get it in time for P's brithday on the 15th. He finally had the chance to wear it yesterday at a friends brithday party.

P's Birthday partie deux

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:07:12 GMT

At the start of the school year I keep reminding myself to put my name down on the class diary so I can spend the day with P. Seems that the only time I do get around to doing it is when it's his birthday! Better late than never I suppose.

Children are funny creatures, the things that come out of their mouth can really make one laugh their head off, sometimes one becomes red of embarassment from what your offsrping might have said. A friend of mine even suggested to write things down, so we can recall they've said when they were young. Aaahh time does fly when you're having fun.

I brought cupcakes and lolly bags to share for P's birthday celebration in kindy. It's nice to be a kid once in a while. Even if it's only for 5 hrs. I must say it was the most fun I had in a while. My son was quite happy that I was around and whenever they would sit on the mat he kept asking me to sit with him on the floor. I would have but alas I was wearing a skirt and it did limit my movement a fair bit.

We've been lucky with P's school. I think it's the best around! Kudos to Mrs. L and Mrs. R for guiding our littlies and for giving them enough room to learn things at their own pace. We've been fortunate enough that this year there's more structure in their routine, and that the teacher actually does take the time in creating a fun learning environment for the kids.

I think maybe I should come and spend the day again with P before he goes to prep, might not be able to do it again.

P's 5th Birthday

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 08:26:24 GMT

P's day started w/ opening his pressie, from mum and dad. We got him a Ben 10 watch (omnitrix). It's the only thing that he's been asking me to get him for his birthday. Every time we would be near a toy shop he would ask me if we can find the watch. Unfortunately I couldn't find one. I thought it wouldn't be hard to procure, but I was wrong. Ebay was the next stop, lo and behold I found heaps. All from America, hah! He still thinks it's the best gift that he got this yr. Jackpot!

I had a discussion w/ a friend of mine about organising birthday parties, especially if it's for your child. We both agree it is far more stressful to host one than being invited as a guest. Running around like a loon is part and parcel of it, making sure that it'll run smoothly was my goal. Times like this makes me appreciate my mother-in-law more!

The party went really quick! I'm glad that our guest had a good time and that they had heaps to eat. I nixed doing any party games, N said that I shouldn't even bother as the playground is there to wear the children out. She was right.

Thank you all for coming and the lovely pressies that P got. How great is it to be 5?!

Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 10:00:00 GMT

As of 17th September 2007 I am officially an Australian Citizen. Coincidentally it was also Citizenship Day which made it all the more special, 606 people from different parts of the world became Australians.

My family and friends were seated at balcony of the Brisbane City Hall Auditorium, it would have been great if we were all seated together I suppose it makes more sense that the candidates are all seated together, it makes the ceremony flow more efficiently.

DIAC put on a show, an aboriginal dance group welcomed the candidates, they even made fire (the old fashion way) inside the auditorium, at one point I thought it wasn't going to happen, but it did! Hurray! There was also a cuban dance group who entertained us, I thought one of the drum players was an acquitnance and the same lot who played at the Food and Wine Festival at the Gold Coast, I could be wrong.

After Lord Mayor Campbell Newman asked the candidates to say their Australian Citizenship Pledge we were showered by confetti. That bit I loved. It's like being in the movies! We sang the national anthem, the official party left the auditorium, then we were ushered out.

We ended up having a very late dinner at Jojo's at the mall. Lucky for us the kids were able to entertain themselves. I had reef and beef and a crownie, it couldn't get more Australian than that eh?

Thanks to H and P for supporting me.

Thanks to the rest of the clan for being there and celebrating with me.

Thanks to I's family, the boys had a good time as well.

Thanks to M and N for coming as well.

What does being an Australian mean to me? I can now vote and help find the "right" people to run the country, I can apply for an Australian passport, I can run for office if I wanted to, but most of all, it is being lucky to be living in a great country with the people I love and made a family of my own.

Weight

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 14:22:33 GMT

The goal is to loose 5 kilos asap. I am a bit sore from yesterday's workout with the trainer, not as sore when I first came in and attended a class, I do feel a little less sluggish. Thats the upside to it. The classes that I've been going to are quite enjoyable. For the past two days I've been telling P about spending an hour or two at my gym's creche tom am. He doesn't like it, calls it the "baby gym" because it's mostly babies and toddlers. But he's getting his head around the idea, provided that I pack morning tea for him, specifically vegimite sandwhich cut into triangles! I did say tht he has to get used to playing with babies so that when his cousin is a bit older her can play with him, or if we have another baby he can entertain the little one.

So far so good, after all it's only been a week. Crossing my fingers that I WILL loose a bit of weight in time for summer.

Portraits

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 10:24:12 GMT

Blame it on the weather

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 08:08:31 GMT

I'm hibernating, it's winter. Apologies if I have not posted anything. Spring is almost here, maybe then I can get my act together. See you soon.

Package from Nippon

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 10:35:24 GMT

This lovely package came from my Kuya G and Ate A from Japan. He rang me 2 sundays ago to ask if our address was current, and told me that they would be sending a package for us. So when the courier buzzed this arvo I got pretty excited. You see, I love getting packages from my family from overseas, my siblings seem to know what to send, regardless if it's chips, noodles, clothes, toys, bags etc.

The content of the bag was vcd of my niece's coronation, cup noodles, rice ships, 2 pairs of shoes for P (sneakers and sandals), polo shirt, t-shirt and shorts, singlet for moi, chocolate bars, stuffed toys, photos of Kuya G's family. P loved the small spotted puppy, she is now called spotty, and P says it's Blue's baby. How cute is that?

Manay, tell Kuya that I got the package. Does he have an email?? Better yet, I need to know his correct contact number in Japan.

This post is for my lovely brother and my sister-in-law, THANK YOU so much. We really appreciate it!

Sydney Trip June 2007

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 13:10:41 GMT

A week ago we went to Sydney. H went for work, while P and I caught up with family and friends. On our first night we stayed at I and J's house at Rouse Hill. Her mum was there, she's a good cook too. She makes roasted peanuts with oodles and oodles of garlic. Of which I bought 3 containers of. And a container of tapa, I've yet to cook one of these days. It nice to have your meal cooked for you , thanks Tita C. I brought pressie for I's baby (singlet and romper) made by my good friend R of Raq & Joe and an NY shirt for I. Lucky I got neutral coloured ones as they only found out last friday the gender of the baby. They thought they were having a boy, the scan showed it was otherwise.

Unfortunately I M could not take the day off, so I opted to hire a car to get around. After lugging our luggages and P the day before I thought it would be a wise move if I hired a small car to go around town. Traffic was horrible, took me about an hour and half to drive from Castle Hill to Ramsgate. People are in a hurry, I must have looked like an old lady driving her tiny car as I was honked at several times. They weave in and out of traffic, I don't know how they managed to do it with such small space. They also forget their manners, here in QLD we wave to the other driver when they go out of their way to give way to another driver, NSW no such luck. I suppose being in a bigger city does make the driving dynamics different. My saving grace though was my tomtom, it helped a lot! Otherwise I would have to read the map (god knows how bad I am with reading maps). It even tells me where the speed cameras are, it warns you how far you are from one and other points of interest that you might like to know about.

Aunty was kind enough to have us for the night, even made homecooked dinner for us. I caught up with the rest of H's clan. For the 1st time I met T and P's children. The cousins were quite happy to play with P, it's nice that they got along well. We missed J, L and their kids. I rang L on wednesday hoping that we could catch up for coffee but unfortunately our schedule did not allow it.

Overall the trip was great, H's convention and launch for the analyst went smoothly, I'm crossing my fingers that this could lead to more clients. This had enabled me and P "tag along" and have some mum and son time. Would have been better if H was there too, but it's better than nothing at all.

Onamae wa nan desu ka?

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 09:48:37 GMT

Zita apparently is Akomoto Izumi in Japanese, I like that! Here's the link rum & monkey
I think I might call my pet Izumi, hehehehehe cute!

Old girl new toy

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 09:40:32 GMT

I got myself a tamagotchi. I know I'm a bit old for this, but I think it'll be fun to have a "pet" especially now that I have heaps of free time on my hands. I need to read up on this and figure out how it works. I bet H's 12 yr old cousin can tell me how it works!

Surprise

Sat, 26 May 2007 01:51:22 GMT

An early surprise shower gift to N. She was quite ecstatic when she was rummaging through the hamper. Baby K's nursery's complete now, I even saw P's old toys (the lady bird rider, push cart with shapes), P's old walker and rocker. It won't be long now the newest addition to our family will be here, and all of us (aunts and uncles on B and N's side of the family) would be more than happy to help out if needed be.

Now I wonder when P's sibling coming?

LP 18: Sauteed Bean Sprouts (Ginisang Togue)

Wed, 23 May 2007 08:50:52 GMT

For as along as I can remember this dish has been present at our table in Makati. It came to a point that I dreaded the day that we would have this as our ulam, and I would often complain to my mother why we had to have it, and that it tasted bland. Most of the time I would prefer to eat at my friends house as they would have roast beef, tapa at kung ano ano pa. We seldom had beef for they were a bit dearer than fish or chicken. When we visit my brother's house I knew that I would have my fill of meat, I used to think that Manang W is the best cook.

Now that I have a family of my own, I appreciate the viands that my mother used to make for us. More often than I not I miss her cooking, and how I would really love to have a home cooked meal by mom! From memory I try to replicate what she made. I can't seeem to get it right sometimes.

My cooking skills has gotten better since I moved overseas. But most of the basics were thought by mommy. This is my simple homage to her. It tastes pretty much the same as to what she used to make, nix out the basil leaves. My son likes this dish a lot. H likes it with chilli. For $6.00 this is the most reasonable viand that I ever made. Thanks to my mother's frequent vegetable dishes I have come to love most, if not all veggies!

Sauteed Bean Sprouts

Ingredients:

1/2 kg ground pork
200 grams bean sprouts
medium red onion
garlic
basil leaves
salt and pepper

Peel garlic and onion, slice into small pieces. In a sauce pan saute garlic and onion until transluscent. Add ground pork. When pork is cooked add bean sprouts and stir. Add salt and pepper to your liking. Turn the heat off and add chopped basil. Serve with steaming rice.

Getaway

Tue, 22 May 2007 07:37:33 GMT

This year we celebrated our 5th Wedding anniversary. Last saturday a friend ours held an engagement party at Bribie Island. So we opted to stay the night rather than driving back home. DM's mum made lovely tucker. Pineapple chicken, spring rolls, steamed mussels, macaroni salad, fried rice and whole heap more. For dessert there was an array of fresh fruits. Later that evening we had karaoke, even H had a go. I on the other hand would have loved to hog the mic, but that's just me. I forgot how much I loved karaoke! I think it would be neat to have my own magic mic, maybe when we go back to Manila I can get one.

Avon Lodge is located 200 metres from the Pacific Harbour Golf and Country Club. Our gracious host Ken and Lynne made it possible for us to feel relaxed and at home. It's just what we needed. They have 3 luxureously themed rooms, we booked the Banksia Suite, we had our own private bathroom with scented flower soaps and perfumes, queen size bedroom with quality white linens, soft bathrobes, a bowl of fruit and ecclairs. Internet was readily available, handy for H. I reckon we would be coming back in a year or two.

Bribie Island is a lovely place to visit. We even thought it would be great to live there. It's peaceful, handy to the beach, quaint cafes. Shame that we didn't have enough time to explore the place. I almost bought an antique enamel roast pan, it was very cheap, but I had to stop myself from purchasing it. I figured I haven't got any room for it. Seafood is relatively cheap. Oysters were cheaper by a few dollars, and very fresh!

I'm glad we made time for a short break. It helps keep things in perspective.

Beyonce

Thu, 17 May 2007 10:33:19 GMT

B was in Brissie a month ago. She was great. Well worth the money!

Lasang Pinoy 17: Mushroom, Chicken and Quail Egg Risotto

Sat, 12 May 2007 12:14:44 GMT

Here is my delayed entry for Lasang Pinoy 17: Egg's a deal.

This is my second attmept to make risotto. When I made it the first time I was out of my comfort zone, as I didn't have an inkling on how to get it right on the first go. I do believe it's worthwhile to make your own stock. This way you have control of what's in it. Less salt more herbs and spices. But if making stock from scratch ain't possible you can use stock from the carton.

Once you've made risotto you won't hesitate on making it again and maybe use different types of indgredients.

Mushroom, Chicken and Quail Egg Risotto

Ingredients:

chicken breast fillets, cut into strips
olive oil
butter
onion
garlic
2 cups arbprio rice
4 cups chicken stock
100 grams oyster mushroom, wood ear mushroom, shitake mushroom (any kind of mushrrom can be used ofr this recipe)
1 dozen boiled quail eggs
shaved/ grated parmesan
parsley chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a pan with oil and add a small knob of butter. Once hot add garlic, onion and saute. When onion are soft add the chicken fillets and saute till almost brown. Add arborio rice and mix, add chicken stock a cup at a time. Remember to continually stir the pan so rice won't stick. Make sure that the rice absorbs the stock before adding more stock into the pan. Once the rice is almost translucent turn the heat off and plate it, top it with quail eggs, shaved/grated parmesan cheese and chopped parsley. Best eaten while still hot.

Zita's Basic Chicken Stock

Ingredients:

chicken frames
medium onion
celery stalks
carrot
dried bay leaves
dried cloves
black peppercorns
salt

In a huge stock pot combine spices and chicken frames, add water untill it covers the chicken frames. Let it boil then reduce the heat to simmer for an hour. Remove the scum off the stock with a laddle. You can strain your stock if you wish, but I leave mine as is. Any left overs you can freeeze and use for other recipes.

Miss D's Baby Shower

Tue, 08 May 2007 04:10:31 GMT

K had asked me to organise a shower for D. I said yes, I'll put something together, even though I didn't have a clue how to. Thank god for internet! I just kept browsing like a loon till I found one that suited us. There are PLENTY of website's that sell babyshower products, they even have suggestions on how to organize one. My fave was a step by step guide on how to make a nappy cake.

So off I went to the shops 2 weeks prior to the day, and procured baby essentials so I can make a gift bucket for D. We all pitched in, wich was great, at least the bank account has not been stretch. I did have troubles on what to give out as prizes for the games. So, I checked online again, and poof! Tons of ideas. I had to make sure that the prizes were practical and inexpensive. What I loved the most is the baby shower favors, and pretty darn easy to make.

Overall, us mum's had a great morning and D never saw it coming! It was a success.

Photo Album: Mi Familia

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 04:05:48 GMT

Mi Familia



		Fish & Chip Shop	Fish & Chip Shop 2
Beach	Beach 2

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Tue, 11 Dec 2007 10:42:12 GMT