Food Gallery 2020 (foods that didn't make it to my vlog)

HOKKAIDO MILK BREAD (Tangzhong method)

    

  

CORDON BLEU

     

LA 2019: Getty Villa, Broad Museum, The Last Bookstore and Universal Studios - We ate at the best Korean Barbecue in Downtown LA

Hi earthlings... 

I'm back for another travel post. How are you all? I hope you're doing better this time. It's crazy how our city was doing good in containing the virus weeks ago then shortly after Memorial Day and Fourth of July we have seen a significant increase in positive cases. Our city is doing fine compared to my home country. I just hope the government would finally focus on containing it. My fellow countrymen are suffering from job loss already and what more if one of their loved ones contract the virus? What kind of help or assistance would the government give? Probably n o t h i n g.... How is your country doing? Is the government handling it well? Are you satisfied? 

Last December my brother visited the States for the holidays and I couldn't be any happier than spending it with him. Though it could have been much exciting and fun to have all my family members this holiday. But we just couldn't. The expenses, work and time wasn't just cooperating with us. But it's all good. I still enjoyed every minute of it.

On our first day in Los Angeles, we drove from Las Vegas to LAX to pick him up. It's best to just pick him up along with my cousin so we can also roam around LA once again. Day one wasn't really eventful besides seeing my brother. We just made a quick trip to Downtown Disney then ate dinner. He needs to rest after his 16 hour flight.

The following day, our first full day I arranged our trip to Getty Villa. I made the reservation on their website a month before. It's free. To maintain the organization of the museum they have to monitor the number of people coming in and out of the property. I understand this part because while we were inside the villa. I had an outstanding experience and was able to reflect on its history. It was so calm and quiet. Your mind is focused on understanding why Getty founded this museum/villa. I also feel like it's a perfect place to read and write or to just spend time with yourself. They offer a tour for free which was so nice of them. To get in, you must pay an entrance fee for each vehicle depending on how big the party is (if I remember it correctly). If you visit LA, I recommend visiting the villa and the museum which we weren't able to. We also visited Griffith Observatory, The Broad museum and The Last Bookstore. I've been wanting to visit The Last Bookstore since 2016 but every time I visited LA they were always closed. Here is the link on my last LA travel post.

For Broad Museum, they accept walk-ins but you would have to queue outside and sometimes it takes an hour or more to get in depending on how busy it is. I also made a reservation in their website. Some of their attractions like Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrors you would need to check-in once you're inside the museum. So while we were waiting, we roamed around the museum. I love all the art works. They're very empowering. Kudos to all artists who put so much effort on their work. By the time it was our turn for the Infinity Mirrors, it was very quick not even a minute. You can't touch anything because it will mess up the lighting positions but some people didn't listen. They touched the lights :| (people, people....) Regardless, I still enjoyed The Broad. 

After our trip to the museum, we left our car at the museum and walked our way to The Last Bookstore. It's only a 12-15 minutes walk or four minutes drive if you prefer driving but parking spots in Downtown LA can be tricky sometimes and rush hour is no joke. 

So I would recommend leaving your car somewhere then walk around Downtown LA. It's a great way to explore Downtown too. Plan ahead and research about the places you're planning to visit. I always do this before arriving at the place. When you enter The Last Bookstore, after browsing through books I recommend going upstairs you will find artworks from different artists and other knick-knacks. I'm sure there are so many hidden gems around LA. PLEASE comment down below your favorite cafes, restaurants, spots, bookstores and museums in LA. Thank you! 

GUYS, I can't end my post here without sharing our newly discovered Korean BBQ place in LA. It's the Hae Jang Chon Korean BBQ. Gosh... I don't even know how I will begin describing how delicious their barbecue is. It was Friday night when we dine in. So the wait time was two hours. There were so many people in line and people kept coming in. It's crazyyyyyy. You can tell that it's a great place to bring your friends to hang out and enjoy a meal together. I highly recommend trying it. You will not regret it. I promise. My only comment is they should upgrade their seating capacity and make the waiting area a little more comfortable especially when it's hot outside. Parking spot at the shopping center isn't that big enough but there is a "valet" so they will take care of it. It's all good. 

I know I didn't cover everything but below are the photos I've taken during our trip to LA. I hope you will enjoy them. I also added my vlog here. So please like and subscribe to my channel. Thank youuuu xo

 

Downtown Disney

Griffith Observatory

                                                

Getty Villa

Summer in spring | Our mango cravings

In the Philippines, summer usually starts in March. If you have visited a tropical country during the summertime you probably have an idea how hot it can get. Our tradition is to go to the beach and hang out with friends or family. And when I think about summer I think about the beach, sleepovers, playing outside, eating halo-halo and MANGOES. 

First time making chocolate crinkles and pandesal

Things had been different, stressful and quite lonely.

But anyway, to ease things up I am just very happy and excited that our oven is finally working which means I can bake now.

Most days I cook meals for my husband and I really love making something for him and seeing him get full. But last weekend, he craved for chocolate crinkles and I wanted to make pandesal since I haven't eaten one for the last three years. How depressing, right? Well, if you are a Filipino we consume pandesal almost everyday.

This time it was different I let him do the mixing and kneading. It was my first to bake pandesal too. First we made our chocolate crinkles, it's a very simple recipe. It's perfect for making with kids. They will surely enjoy! Second, was pandesal I once made them at culinary school but never had the guts to make my own until today. I'm still trying to get the breads perfect. This is my first time making without any assistance from my chef but my husband was there to help me and do most of the kneading. It turned out pretty good for a first timer. I guess the only thing that kind of went off was the texture. The taste was there but it was not soft and moist as the ones I had back home, it was fun doing it, regardless.

If any of you have any experiences with pandesal, I'd like to hear tips from you! ;-)
Thank you!

Chocolate Crinkles

Pandesal

Miss Peregrine's Date with Mon Amour

"Let me glimpse inside your velvet bones."

- Edgar Allan Poe

What is more exciting thing to do than to start the month watching Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children with mon amour? I started reading the first book five years ago and was jumping out of joy to find out Ransom Riggs was publishing the second sequel and the same year they announced Tim Burton was directing the film. Oh myyyyy! What caught my interest to read Miss Peregrine's were the vintage pictures and the peculiar children. I love children. They never lie and they speak through their hearts. Always happy! I also like stories that took place during the war time. It's when you see how people or the characters develop and get through hard times of life. Just like today. The world is facing big problems and it's sad that one of them are the children they are the ones who have to deal with these terrible things. They deserve a great childhood memories not these bombings, terror and guns. 

I'm glad that Malala Yousafzai exists (she reminds me of Anne Frank - I love her). She is helping the children get the education they truly deserve and doing her best to give inspiration to people. You may want to read my post about it.

Going back to the date with mon amour.

It was October first. 

We went shopping. I bought sweaters in Old Navy and make-up goodies in Sephora. I got Tarte products. I may write a post about it in the future. 

After hearing a mass I told him if we could have soup for lunch and since it's starting to get chilly. We had viet pho. Yummy!! Though I really wish they serve ramen :'(

After roaming around the mall, we stopped at our favourite store, Whole Foods Market, we love their sushi there. Since we don't want to dine in at Japanese buffet like what we used to do last year. We just buy the $12.99 sushi. Not bad at all. Right? 

And ended our night with Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.. I have a love-hate rating with the film. The casting was good and Burton didn't fail to establish peculiar ambiance but the plot was a little off. Downside of it was it felt they were rushing the story. This wasn't the best Burton film I would say. I wish they could have focus on making the story sequence better. I don't know it's just my opinion. The first half was great but the rest was like, "Eh? What?". From the person who read the book, they kind of stepped back with plotting the story. (I don't even know if I make sense at all. Lol.) Overall I give the movie a 7/10. Good thing mon amour liked it. 

April & May Foodies

I'm thrilled to blog about the last two months.

Baked Chicken Fillet in Mushroom Soup/Sauce
One new dish I discovered and recreated though I feel bad about myself for recently discovering it. I feel uninspired the last months. I love how it turned out even my family liked it. It was very easy and quick to prepare and you might even have it already in your kitchen. This is a no brainer dish.

Homemade Chicken Stock

The secret to flavourful and delicious soups or sauces is stock. One tip, never throw your chicken carcass and bones ever again. You can use them for stocks and store it in the freezer for a month. It's usually carrots, celery stalks, onion, bay leaf, salt and whole peppercorns, and chicken carcass or bones. Just put all the ingredients in a pot and let is simmer for about two hours. After simmering, strain it, let it cool and store it (don't forget to put the date). In time you can use them for any soups or dishes that needs chicken stock and you will never again buy chicken powder. 

Fried Pork Steak
I marinated the pork overnight with lemon juice, garlic salt, pepper, paprika, and some rub I bought in Trader Joe's on each side. You will also need flour and bread crumbs or if you have Panko Japanese breadcrumbs it's better. What I usually do to have more flavourful pork steak, I put paprika and garlic salt to the flour and breadcrumbs mixture.

Hello fats and oil! 

Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
For everyone who does not know, I love Banana Breads and Cream Cheese!!! My cousin and I decided to make our Sunday fun and productive. Since we both love to bake. We decided to spend time together and make something out of our pantry. We just planned everything on that day and just bought cream cheese in the store. And I suggest you give this recipe a try and kids will surely love it especially the adults. ;)

Loving them:

Take It Or Leave It by Great Good Fine Ok

Zendaya for Wonderland (Petra Collins is one of my favourite photographer)

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Sweet September

I'm one week behind writing my entry for September but it's better late than never, right? I'd like to share a fancy food and incredible journey I had for the month.

It started with a cookie mug shots I tried in our town. It's 5-10 minutes away from where I lived. The ambiance of the place is quite good for inviting friends who you haven't seen in a long time - to catch up, reminisce your memories together, or share adventures or a place by yourself with your favorite book or finish a work. 

It's like drinking tea. They have sizes from smallest to largest mug. It comes with a drink of your choice - a caramel, milk, or chocolate. After hours of talking and sipping into your drink, you have a good and sweet cookie treat in the end. If only I could make this at home for bed time stories I definitely would. Maybe I can someday? 

 

September had been very toxic and busy for me. I had to meet deadlines for my requirements as I planned to take an externship abroad. I took an exam and was interviewed by an American chef from California. I have been preparing for this for a year and they paid off. I passed and I couldn't be happier right now. But there's one left thing to do and it's to pass my next interview in the embassy. 

And so after three weeks of my exam, it was morning, I was making pancakes when suddenly a mailman knocked on my door and handed over my letter from one of my favorite bloggers in Tumblr. It's from Adeline - I love her because she's so kind, sweet and I noticed in her daily posts she's someone who is very friendly and likes to go on adventures around her city and she's very talented too. It's an honor to be exchanging letters with her. I can't wait to send my letter. I hope she will like my little cute surprise inside. 

I also made a 'made-from-scratch' crêpe and caramel sauce for my exams yesterday. It was toxic and I was very tired mentally and physically. We had to make soup, appetizer, canapé, pasta, entrée and a dessert. But at the end of it, it's always fulfilling to see my creations liked by other people. 

The crepe's filling was thinly sliced caramelized apples there's supposed to be a vanilla ice cream on top but it wasn't part of my exams so it's just plain Caramel Apple Crêpe. 

Caramelized Apple Crêpe

To end my entry, I'd like to share to you all my favorite music video:

Our Deal by Best Coast

The music video is directed by Drew Barrymore herself. The music video is starred by Chloë Grace Moretz, Tyler Posey and other artists. It's such an addictive song but heartbreaking at the same time. I hope you'll all enjoy.

XO