CH239: Paella Night

I So my housemate and I just finished hosting our Paella night. She made a seafood paella Negra while I made a simple chicken, chorizo and shrimp paella.

I am so happy it turned out well considering it was my first time making the dish and I must say without any conceit that it's almost at par with the one I tried in barcelona :)

Definitely feeling fulfilled about this culinary accomplishment!

I learned after peeling four cloves of garlic that you need to crush it first before you peel to make it easier.

Cooking paella needs constant attention so the bottom doesn't burn too much!

Presentation makes the food tastier! Make it look good and instagram the shit out of it.

Success!

My housemates seafood paella negra

Pictures!

So happy my great friends Paul and Eugene could make it by!

CH236: A Packed Weekend with Friends

Saturday started off early with me needing to come to the west of Singapore to attend a gym class - Body Pump with Ange and Jon. Last Saturday was different in that Jon couldn't come to Pump because he was out drinking late! (He's got drinking problems. LOL JK. He's so behaved. NOT. Now Jon has become ambiguous and let's leave it at that). They went to the gym around 1pm to attend the Body Combat class which I skipped for swimming. We were joined by Jon's friend Lara.

Planking pains.

Swimming.

I got back home to a house party hosted by my lovable housemate and fag hag Louisa. She cooked pancit, kwek kwek and squid balls! She even concocted her own mix of dipping sauces ala Manong Fishball!

She also ordered a cake called Choco Leche which had a chocolate cake base (super moist!) and a Leche flan top!

Soon after munching, I retired to my bedroom to try and take a nap. But after devouring 15 (a conservative estimate) kwek kwek pieces and cake and ... Lol lets not enumerate, I was pretty much tired from waking early and gym. I couldn't sleep though! I had a dinner meetup with former work colleagues to catch up. So soon after I just went to get ready and danced in the shower to my favorite tunes care of spotify premium! I find that it's an effective means to wake up and shake the sleep off - shower + dance music and karaoke lol.

After the meetup with colleagues, I went to meet Ange and Jon and friends for the Singapore night festival. Although I only saw the exhibits in SAM and the bit of the night festival they had at the facade of SAM. The group went ahead without me to see the other night installations while I caught up with former colleagues.

After which, you might have thought I went back home to sleep. NO rest for the wicked! We went clubbing afterwards. Lol. I met some friends Louisa and Ivan in the pub beside the club and went back dancing - coming out back and forth as other friends came into the Pub lol.

Finally got home around 5am, showered then slept. 5 hours later... I was awoken by my alarm for brunch! Paella brunch at Pasarbella!

A very delicious side of honey roast pork and crackling roast pork! (Combo cost 15 dollars. The paella + chicken + iced lemon earl grey tea was 20 dollars).

After a filling meal, we went to Botanic Gardens for a picnic. We bought wine, and since I was feeling generous and wanted to celebrate the 10th monthsary of a couple friends, I bought us cupcakes!

As soon as I got home, I just had to charge my phone, wash my face and then go to Novena to attend mass with Ange and Jon. They came by my place to have a taste of the squid balls and pancit and the delectable cake after mass! Yum!

It might be taken as strange for me to attend mass, but I do believe in God. Just not religion and I feel closer to God in a place other people consider a place of worship - which since I don't believe in religion may not be entirely what I believe in. But I wanted to find the quiet and space to thank God for all the blessings that he's given to me, my family and ... Well other private conversations :)

I had squid ball in my mouth lol. That's not the new way I smile.

And then after that, I helped clean up, watched a bit of tennis (US OPEN 2013) while waiting for my laundry to finish. I hung up my clothes, ironed my shirts for the week...and now I'm typing this entry in bed while waiting for sleep to come!

It was surely a packed weekend! Looking at the transitions in between each happening, I only had time to freshen up! I couldn't ask for more though. In the company of great friends, food, drinks, art, I couldn't really ask for more. 3 months from now and a few days from this writing, I'll be off to Manila for a few days before my travel begins around Europe then US! I'm so happy to have met these real people in Singapore. There are others of course who I may not have managed to get around to writing, but well, I just figured myself #blessed (I couldn't resist the pretentious hashtag lol) that I have these people in Singapore I can be myself with and just have fun #nodrama. Some people may not have the same luxury of the kinds of friends I have and for that I'm thankful. 

CH228: Salmon Saturday

Yesterday, after having Sinigang lunch, I pushed through with my promise to my housemate that I'll cook up Salmon so we can use the mashed potato she had from the Friday night. I couldn't go because I had prior dinner plans.

My sort of look after I howled when I got hit by oil pops from the griller lol

Salmon cooking nicely

Finished product shots.

Grilled salmon with honey Dijon mustard sauce, rockets with cherry tomatoes, goat cheese and a balsamic vinegar dressing, garlic mashed potato with parsley.

After cooking that up, I went to party and go clubbing. Thankfully, I was pretty buzzed after necking a tall glass of gin and tonic because I was running late. I met some friends in the pub and had to queue up for 40-50 minutes to get into the dance club. It wasn't that it was full. Or maybe it was but I just wasn't paying attention. Someone caught my eye and ... Eye to eye. Eye-eye-eye-eye. The end

CH216: Salad Creations

Update:
I didn't realize I've had more entries on cooking till I actually checked the entries tagged with the label: cooking.
1. Beef Salpicao with onions, sauteed carrots and blanched brocolli
2. Rockets. Cherry tomatoes. Crushed cashew. Pan fried honey mustard chicken. Goat cheese
3. Stuffed bell peppers with tuna and cheese
4. Honey-mustard-BBQ-garlic Beef + Capsicum
5. Citrusy Salmon with Broccoli Side
6. pasta with Sisig, pork sausage (3 meats simmered in white wine), cheese, capsicum, tomatoes and carrots

So now, we have an entry below for 7, 8, 9 and 10! :)

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I decided a couple of days back to try and eat healthier before I go to Europe. Not that it will have any immediate effect with me losing more weight to look my best in pictures, but I did it just for the fun of it. I always thought cooking is a means to be creative.

Since I moved in to a new flat with friends, there's not as much restriction in terms of cooking - actually there's none at all. So, for the past lunches and dinners, I made up the following.

Dinner 1

Chopped chicken fillets over a bed of rockets, carrots and a copious amount of goat cheese (my favorite). I drizzled it lightly with virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Lunch 1

I woke up late after sleeping for 12 hours. Since it was way past breakfast I decided to make:

Chicken fillet over a bed of red coral lettuce with diced carrots and apple with creamy Caesar dressing

Lunch 2:

Chicken fillet with a side salad comprised of rockets, carrots and grapes with goat cheese, EVO and balsamic vinegar

Dinner 2:

This one was thought of after watching Hannibal. I initially wanted to get asparagus and wrap it smoked salmon.

Smoked salmon wrap - inside of which is goat cheese and capsicum. I wanted to mix up the texture with something crunch and given fair price didn't have asparagus, I had to find an alternative. It was served over a bed of green lettuce and tomatoes and carrots. There's a dressing of creamy Caesar but the salad was lightly drizzled with EVO and balsamic vinegar.

This is the prelude of course to more complicated dishes haha jk. I'm trying to be creative in as much as I don't want to refer to any cookbook or recipe. I mean, if those people can do it, why can't i? I like experimenting with what's in the fridge. I would have stocked up more but I'll be away for 10 days in Europe and I wouldn't want my ingredients to be ... Not fresh. :)

CH212: Long Distances and Celebrations

Last Friday, I received a mail in the office telling me that a package was attempted to be delivered but unfortunately, our reception was not allowed to sign for the package so I had to get it from the post office. I had made arrangements with my friend Ange to attend body combat class and also made arrangement with my friend visiting from Sydney to meet in the gym. So, because of this unexpected delivery, I had to drop by the post office before going to the gym. It's a bit far off from where I'm currently staying in the city and I didn't want to waste time from my weekend just to go on a side trip.

To my shock, the package that was apparently delivered was 13.31 lbs. That's a 6.04 kg big box without a bag and nowhere close for me to buy a bag to be able to carry it properly. It was drizzling that Friday, and I only had a long umbrella (not the short ones we usually see in PH people use for commutes). So, I had to carry it with two hands, and then eventually decided to throw away the long umbrella I had for the comfort and ease of carrying the package.

I think I walked almost 1km to get to Ang Mo Kio Hub where I figured I could buy an eco-friendly tote bag from Fair Price to put the big package in. I was practically sweating even while it was drizzling and cold because of the effort it took to lug it around. Considering it was a Friday, there were a lot of people walking about as well so it was a bit hard evading people and avoiding bumping into them.

The effort it took to get the package was well worth it though. My sister sent me (what I think is) my birthday presents for April. Now I don't need to look around for thicker t-shirts to bring to Portugal and Spain.

She also got me my request for the cookie dough oreo! I read about it I think on BuzzFeed and immediately contacted my sister to get me some as they're only going to produce a limited bunch - maybe to test how the people respond to the product? She also sent me several spreads which I assume are sort of house warming presents for me. She sent some packs of chocolate (which I don't plan on eating by myself) which I might share with friends. The only one I'm keeping for myself is the tub of almond chocolates! Haha, I could finish the whole tub by myself.

I also requested my sister to send me Aveeno in small packs so I can bring it to Europe in my travel toiletry kit. I'm not sure of the humidity in Portugal and Spain so I can't be all dry and itchy. (I have sensitive skin :))

As a side update, the card holder (pseudo-wallet) I most often used has been fixed by Mont Blanc. Thankfully, i found the warranty card in time. I saved myself 75 sgd for the cost of repairs. The damage wasnt that big, but the adhesive binding they had at the bottom was peeling and I didn't want to go to Europe without this.

Lastly, RkGreg had a belated birthday celebration for his friends here in Singapore. It happened last Saturday hosted in Mksurf8's flat. Super fun gathering of friends with fun and games. Unfortunately, there were some casualties: an empty bottle of Absolut Vodka was shattered, a couch was dirtied and DiwangBughaw got really drunk and later on passed out. He couldn't remember anything (selective amnesia?) the next day.

For discretion, this is the only picture I could share. With Ange and Chris R. Belated happy birthday RKGreg! 

CH209: Dinner Dates

Last Friday, I was the delegated organizer for my dragon boat friends' dinner get together. Well, actually, I suggested it and volunteered to organize since I haven't been active with dragonboat and have not seen some of them for a long time.

A friend suggested we go eat at some place Italian. A quick google for Italian restaurants resulted in a food blog that suggested Pasta Brava. By the name of the place, I wouldn't have been able to tell that we were set to eat some place fancy. Price range from their menu was around 20-30 sgd, and well, you couldn't tell from the price that it was upscale-ish. 

Before heading down there, I met my good friend Paul and we had something light to eat at a farm to table concept restaurant. The place looked fancy (no pictures though). I had mushroom soup (you can smell the truffle put in and it was delectable!) and white wine while he had an open faced sandwich and coffee. Afterwards, our friend Abu came by and we all went to Platitos to chill and wait for other friends. Eventually though, only three of us went to Pasta Brava while others went straight to there. It was a nice evening of sorts. From the craziest discussions to catching up, it was every bit fun and fulfilling to have organized such a get-together. Now, we're going on assignments to organize a monthly meetup! :)

For food pictures, visit my friend Eugene's blog entry on our "Dinner Dates" entitled Sweet Weekend. The food was really nice and authentic. I especially loved my ravioli despite how unappetizing it looked. But then again, it's ravioli! Overall, based on price, food and quality of service, I'd say it's worth going to...and coming back to again! The place is suitable for a date or a gathering of friends.

Having more white wine (Sauvignon Blanc) at Platitos

Waiting for food to be served

I had the salmon ravioli.