What to give a bored little girl?

Why, a Hello Kitty Activity Set, that’s what!

It’s got 4 colored pencils, a memo pad, and a sticker set! Now isn’t that fun? She can write stories, draw pictures, and also! Draft a letter and seal it with a sticker and a kiss!

Sooooo cute!!!

Trust the Japanese to come up with a lash curler to deal with our lower lashes! There’s even a lash curler that’s meant to work on sections only! Yup, so if there’s a section of your lashes that’s a problem area, then there one to fix that stubborn section!

Remember the days when a cute bag like this would make you the happiest girl in the world?

So cute, so girly and so pink! Not to mention, it’s got the right “logo”. Hahaha!

These days, what makes the big girls happy = the smooshiest leather or the most exotic skins. Artwork on bags, luxurious hardware and thousand dollar price tags. Sigh.

Sure, it’s fun being a girl. But it can get a lot expensive too! Hahaha!

Doesn’t necessarily have to be one with nice picture windows where you can sit by and just watch the day go by! Although I wouldn’t mind looking out the window to a grand view of Central Park, hehehe!

Check out these Hello Kitty bedroom babies…

The side-table lamp…

The sheets…

A body pillow to hug at night…

And of course, a kitty bank to put all your coins in! Gotta save to buy more HK stuff you know!

Well, it’s summer here in the US so school bags are slowly making a presence in time for the coming school year!

Here are a couple of school bags I saw in Target! Pretty cute if you ask me!

Backpacks…

…and a trolley!

Dampa = Pig Out Time!

This is what I miss most about living in the Philippines…

A trip back home will never be complete without gorging on seafood! The meatiest chili crabs, the biggest shrimps coated in garlic-ky butter, the crunchiest calamaris, the most sour fish sinigang! Top that off with sour, crunchy green mangoes, juicy tomatoes and stinky bagoong!

Heaven!

Well, we did not go to a real barrio fiesta. I mean the restaurant Barrio Fiesta ok? Hahaha!

So anyway, since we were away from home for a while, my in-laws decided it was time to indulge ourselves with some Filipino food! So off we went to their all-time favorite place for crispy pata, kare-kare and laing!

Fine, no picture of the crispy pata here because we were so hungry we all pounced on it right away. Unless you want to see a picture of crispy pata bones, hahaha!

You know what, I was thinking, while kare-kare and laing are very tasty dishes, they don’t even look appetizing at all no? They look sort of mushed up and bland. Not exactly a visually stimulating treat. I guess this is one of the reasons why Filipino dishes haven’t enjoyed the same cult status as Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai dishes abroad!

So I suppose, the wonders and joys of eating Filipino food are reserved for those who are willing to look beyond presentation and “packaging” hehehe!

I just love the smell and taste of pandan leaves! I like the smell it imparts on rice, and it makes for a refreshing drink as well! The fresh orchid sitting prettily on the rim of the tall glass is a nice touch too!

The pandanus plant, better known to us as the pandan plant, is indigenous not only to the Philippines, but to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand as well - wherein leaves are used in both savoury (think chicken pandan!) and sweet dishes (like desserts!).

Check out this black chicken soup we had for my mother-in-law’s dinner party in Gloria Maris…

If that looks good, wait till you see this!

Hehehe! But don’t let that chicken foot floating about in the soup fool you! The broth was surprisingly delicious and I slurped all the broth, everything to the last spoonful!

Of course, I left the chicken foot. I am not that experimental with my food, hehe!