The Madness Equation

Freaky late night movie + outdoor market the morning after = madness from lack of sleep

The movie was District 9. The execution was quite original. Even the outer appearance of the aliens, prawns as they were referred to in the movie, was a new take on the alien concept, but I found the giant, rusty, metallic, cockroach-like creatures really freaky.

Dinner at Zuni in Greenbelt 5 was snooze-inducing. Despite having a full-page vegetarian menu, which to me meant the dishes would be promising because this restaurant gives importance to vegetarian patrons, my Trio Risotto failed to evoke an ooh-la-la moment. My order, which consisted of red and brown rice with boiled mushrooms, carrots and celery, was more appropriate under the description of tasteless rice pilaf than risotto. I've been a vegetarian for four months now. Surely, vegetarian dishes need not be this boring!

Compared to the risotto, I liked this Php 120 vegetarian combo my mom found in the Legazpi market this morning a whole lot more. For vegetarian dishes, it is very easy to tell which dishes are laden with salt and MSG and which ones are fresh and naturally tasty.

Pasta salad, roasted potatoes with dill, lentil with yogurt sauce (not in picture) and couscous. Yum!

My dad and I were hungry and impatient so while my mom went ahead to look for other vegetarian choices, Dad and I settled for this vegetarian longganisa, skinless, which was just in front of us when we were looking for something to eat. The stall also sells barbeque, java rice, and plain rice, all vegetarian. The tasty longganisa would have went very well with a mountain of plain rice.

While many of the same stalls set up in both the Salcedo market on Saturdays and the Legazpi market on Sundays, the latter offers more ready-to-eat dishes than the former. I personally prefer the Salcedo market which has a simpler layout than the maze-like Legazpi market.

This morning I tried a Strawberry Yogu, a creamy, almost unsweetened yogurt popsicle that had strawberry chunks in it at Picole, a stall that sells healthy ice pops. It was pretty good.

Starbucks was the only coffee shop near the Legazpi market. To avoid a repeat of my previous Starbucks catastrophe involving an overly sweetened drink, I decided to try the new DARK ROAST blend. I got an Iced grande sugar-free vanilla dark roast coffee jelly latte. It turned out to be a really good choice, in fact, a must-try. Hoorah! Just a note, the new coffee jelly is more like pudding; it is softer and less chewy than the old coffee jelly.

While we were in Starbucks, we saw two Korean children watching videos contentedly on each of their own laptops. Times are surely a-changing. When I was their age I only toted a Sweet Valley paperback with me to pass the time.

Me while waiting for F and J last night. I got these shoes last year. I noticed that oxfords are still in the fall/winter lines this year (http://www.style.com/vogue/voguedaily/2009/06/the-verdict-is-in-the-new-flats/esquivelfeet/) so I celebrated the coming of the -ber months by taking my shoes out for a spin. My old colleague called them witch's shoes, which they kind of are because of the slightly pointy toe. My next target is a pair of flat patent leopard print Repetto oxfords. Or maybe a pair of plain ones will do.

Last Hoorah

Summer in Hong Kong is drawing to an end. As summer's last hoorah, it was hotter than ever in HK with the temperatures rising up to 33 degrees C, as if the summer season were trying to make up for all the rains and typhoons during June and July. So the best remedy was to hang out in shopping malls to enjoy the free A/C, which was turned up to extra cold.

I noticed that retail stores are always on sale now ever since the financial tsunami last year. The winter sale season started as early as December 1st of last year, 3 weeks earlier than usual, and lasted until the end of February. The summer sale season started so early, on June 1st, that by June 30th, the official start of the sale, most stores had slashed the prices of items to half of the original price. Now, as the -ber months are looming ahead, most retail stores are still on sale as they try to discard the remaining pieces from the previous season. This situation makes buying anything at full price pretty much unreasonable.

One of my favorite places to dine in nowadays is Shanghai vegetarian restaurant Kung Tak Lam located on the 10th floor of the World Trade Centre in Causeway Bay. I ate here before I became a vegetarian and loved their food even then. The food here is not heavy on seasoning and spices as is the case in many vegetarian dishes, the place is brightly lit, not crowded at all, and has a harbor view, and the service is impeccable. Many monks come here to dine, too, because all the dishes do not contain any garlic or onions.

My top 2 favorites are the pine nut and seaweed rice (HKD 48) and sweet and sour fake pork (HKD 88), for which mushroom was used as substitute. So far, I have not been disappointed in any of Kung Tak Lam's dishes yet. Kung Tak Lam also serves dim sum from 11am to 5pm; my favorite is the siumai.

This sweet and sour "pork" is crunchier than most real sweet and sour pork dishes.

Finally, Kung Tak Lam has a lunch set on weekdays for only HKD 45. Another affordable option is the Dan-Dan Mian or Sichuan Spicy Noodles, vegetarian style, very yummy at only HKD 28.

At long last, I finally found a boutique that imports Cath Kidston bags from UK. I tried to Google the bag in HK but the search only yielded pages in Chinese. Lately, I noticed many HK-ers toting a Cath Kidston, much like the Harrod's shopping tote phenomenon in 2005. When I saw a woman carrying one in the grocery, I gathered up my courage and asked her where she got hers. She told me that she bought her Cath Kidston in UK; luckily, she knows where to get it in HK!

Zazie Store (Shop 208) is located in Laforet, a mini shopping mall beside Giordano across Sogo, along East Point Road.

I ended up getting the biggest tote. The picture posted in my previous entry is only a book bag which is flat. The small handbag version of the big tote is also cute but the pattern I like is not available in the small size.

I also got Mom a purse with a metal clasp, which she is crazy about.

And the piece de resistance of my recent purchases is this item I came across by accident. Japanese jewellery 4°C collaborated with Sanrio to come up with a line of gold Kitty pieces. The pieces are so tiny, I thought it was a line for children, but the sales personnel assured me that it is for adults. What struck me are the clarity and cleanliness of the lines and dots on Kitty's face and the ribbon made from coral.

While having dinner at rbt in Causeway Place, I was blown away by the loudness of this B-bag. It was huge, fire-engine red, and has big gold hardware. I asked for her permission to take a photo of her bag which I liked a lot and discovered that she got it in China for 500yuan. Wow! It looked so real!

Trying to get a full paparazzi shot of the bag without success. The shop sells all sorts of knick-knacks. Given the sky-high rent of HK retail stores, the current trend among shop owners nowadays is to divide the rent among many different tenants. Anyone who has something to sell can get a box and display their wares in the box. During the whole course of my fast-food dinner, the foot traffic in this shop was non-stop. Some items sold here include mini flat-irons with fun prints like zebra lines, sunglasses, toys, accessories, displays, etc.

As closing, I use my MacBook for all my post entries as well as editing the layouts of my blog. When I checked my blog using an IBM laptop running on Windows, the font and pictures came out in a different size from my original configuration. I'm not quite sure how to fix it, but if my blog appears distorted, it's not supposed to look that way..I think.

Jamie-tarian

(noun) A person who eats everything except four-legged creatures such as pork, beef, mutton, etc.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

During the weekend, Lionel Richie's song from which the title of this post was taken from had been playing on repeat in my head since I was dragged out of bed on Saturday morning and was forced! (not true) to skip running to go to an unscheduled trip to Makati and Taguig with the family.

I started my day wrong with an awfully sweet cup of coffee from Starbucks. I wonder how much sugar I ingested that morning. The coffee was so terrible I had to set things right by ordering an Americano during lunch at Abe.

I was happy, though, that there are still good things that can be had at Starbucks, like the Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella Bagel I ordered with my coffee. After heating it up, the mozzarella was dripping and oozing from my bagel which was gigantic and sprinkled with healthy nuts.

We stopped by the Salcedo Market, and everyone got excited. I was thrilled to see grilled corn and so many large and colorful totes from Prada to simple woven ones to kitschy bags made of recycled tetra packs carried by the quite fashionable shoppers. Queen J was transported to another world after seeing the street foods from her childhood, including taho, sorbetes, steamed peanuts, and even cotton candy! Ma was going from stall to stall looking at the homemade goodies like suman and cookies and the fresh produce that abound in the Saturdays-only market. Pa was just watching us and taking as many photos as he could.

I love plants but I don't have a green thumb, all the plants I owned in the past did not live long. In this photo was the only tote I got a chance to take a picture of. I'm too shy to be caught taking paparazzi pictures of strangers.

The music added gaiety to the already fiesta-like market.

This mamang sorbetero hails from Sucat, Paranaque. His transportation to Makati costs him Php 800 and the space, Php 250.

This is best when sprinkled with milk powder.

I miss Hong Kong food!

During lunch, the parents and I were surprised to discover that Queen J refused to order anything four-legged in Abe. Could this be the beginning of her journey to vegetarianism? But we all knew better than to press her for answers, so we celebrated with 4 vegetarian dishes, 3 of which were cooked in gata (coconut milk). Yikes!

I love impulse shopping. During the afternoon, my day proved to be far better than when it began. We went to Echostore, half eco-friendly store, half restaurant. There were a lot of interesting things to see like purses made of woven Coke can openers, straw rope, and laminated paper. But the best item was the stacks of bangles made of wood chips I discovered half hidden beside the shelves of purses which were probably the store's best sellers. Queen J and I went crazy picking out one bangle each.

I like the paper bag made from magazine pages.

Afterwards, while trying to find a copy of Preview August 2009 in Fully Booked without luck (really, Summit Media shouldn't make readers wait this long (a week!) to get ahold of a copy! seething, as I made multiple trips to different bookstores to get one without success!), I discovered a 2010 diary by Cath Kidston! I had been trying to find a bag by the same store in HK since last year, so I was ecstatic when I saw the diary, the pages of which were printed with Cath Kidston's signature floral prints.

http://www.cathkidston.co.uk/p-13682-cath-kidston-rose-bunch-book-bag.aspx

I was also finally able to visit Theodore's the Store, but sadly came out empty-handed. Sigh..

I ended the shopping day with a huuuge slice of cheese pizza and mixed soft-served ice cream from S&R. It was a very sinful day, eating-wise.

When I got home, a package was waiting for me. F dropped off his gifts from Mumbai which included an exquisite grayish red scarf. Thank you!

Oh, my day wasn't quite done yet. I watched G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra (ridiculous, but Channing was hunky with a scar on his right cheek!) with a bunch of friends. DJ, clad in a boyfriend jacket and pouffy skirt(!!!), looked really stylish. Queen J asked if I took pictures and I couldn't believe that I forgot. Again!

Half a Serving of Inspiration

I watched The Proposal and the movie was awkwaaard. But if Ryan Reynolds were to propose to me, even if there were no sparks between us, it would be very hard for me to say no. He's just so hunky. (picture source: http://jollypeople.com/blog/2009/06/05/team-fox-new-york-marathon/)

I heart Sandra Bullock in While You Were Sleeping, Miss Congeniality, and Two Weeks Notice. I guess she's just better at playing ditzy characters. She's too cute to look uptight.

There's a fine line between cringe and "kilig" moments in a romantic comedy. The good ones have perfect timing, some funny moments and lots of chemistry. But maybe all a romantic comedy needs is a hunky male lead to turn things around.

My all-time favorite romantic comedy in high school was Ten Things I Hate About You. What is it about bad boys? Oh, Heath... I watched this movie perhaps ten times and got my senior prom dress idea from Bianca.

Then I discovered A Lot Like Love. The first time I watched it I didn't realize yet how hooot Ashton Kutcher was. I wonder what I was preoccupied with. And then there's his boyish charm. A boy in a hot male model's body. And then I watch him in That '70s Show and he totally loses his hot factor.

I just about melted when Oliver (Ashton) serenaded Emily (Amanda Peet) with Bon Jovi's I'll Be There for You, of all rock love songs out there. In fact, I love the movie's soundtrack but couldn't find it anywhere.

I've begun writing about romantic comedies. I need a big dose of inspiration. Seriously.

Something New, Something Good

I noticed I have been going to a lot of the same restaurants lately, so I was happy to be able try 2 places I'd never been to today.

H took me to 8 Spices in Tomas Morato for some Thai lunch. The Pad Thai wrapped up nicely in scrambled egg.

After cutting it up...

Sauteed eggplant with chicken, sometimes, I simply have to make compromises, so I just picked the eggplants.

I liked the thickness of the curry sauce in this vegetarian dish.

Delightful dessert: black sticky rice topped with custard pudding and condensed milk

Then we stopped by Lia's Cakes to buy a slice of avocado cake for Ma to try. I noticed free Wi-Fi is everywhere now. When will the whole Metro Manila become a free Wi-Fi zone?

For dinner, I was determined to find something new that our family can try in Serendra Piazza. Knowing Queen J, I was sure she would insist we dine in Abe yet again (and she did).

My first choice was ArAma. For a restaurant that serves only organic food, ArAma has a very limited selection of vegetarian dishes. My second choice was Balducci, which is also in the Abe area, but Queen J was starting to bug us to go to Abe, which is just across ArAma. I had to lead everyone away from the Abe area and so off we went to my third choice, Gaudi.

Dad and the maitre d from Gaudi chatted for around 5 minutes about the vegetarian selection there. In the end, the maitre d suggested Healthy Kitchen to him.

While browsing through the restaurant selection in ClickTheCity, I already came across Healthy Kitchen but thought it to be more of a fast food place. Healthy Kitchen is actually both a bakery and a sit-down restaurant with a lengthy selection of vegetarian and even vegan (non-dairy, non-egg) dishes.

Ma liked the kitschy mismatched theme. Growing up with a lot of mismatched plates and bowls, I know this is exactly her kind of thing.

But even if mismatching were the theme, I liked that their teacups and saucers matched.

I also liked the slogan and how the place has a lot of details if you look at it closely.

Monsignor salad made of romaine leaves, cucumber, mango, tofu with a unique blueberry vinaigrette dressing. The cheesesticks reminded me of my favorite afternoon snack in Tocans across Uno. Haha but HK's cheesesticks are fully loaded with cheese while Tocans' was just fried lumpia skin.

A sweet and sour brown rice with tofu adobo. Yum!

The most unpopular dish was my order, vegetarian wrap, which is made of all fresh vegetables. Think uncooked bean sprout.

Vegetarian Ukoy (traditionally ukoy is shrimp fritter) and Iced Tea

What's inside the ukoy?

My rather anemic Green Tea Frappe

Mom took home a box of oatmeal cookies. It's really pure oats bound together by some edible adhesive.

I loved everything about Healthy Kitchen. Finally, a vegetarian place for the whole family when we go to Bonifacio High Street; a place where Queen J has the choice to order dishes with "living things" like Chicken Adobo.

Lastly, the service here was excellent. Our server, Rodel (below, right), is very knowledgeable about the products and very accommodating in a totally non-creepy way. Pic by Dad.

When we passed by Gaudi after dinner, the maitre d was already closing up. He greeted my dad and asked him how his dinner went. Funny.

Self-indulgence is just addicting.