Mount Sea Resort Review

We checked in to Mount Sea Resort two days ago.

We've gone there three years ago just to go swimming and I found their public pool to be very small. That's probably why I never planned to go back there aft that.

The only reason my daughter and I went there wa because my sister told me they are checking in for one night during the APEC Summit two-day declared holiday. So we decided to join them since my princess has been asking me to go swimming.

They have a separate pool for hotel guests but it happened to be under renovation when we went there which really disappointed my little girl.

I have to give it to them though, their small hotel has very neat facilities. The best part was dining. The dining room was so nifty. At first, before seeing the dining area, I asked my sis to gather info about their party package and was shocked to see the price list.

You see, I wanted to prepare early for my daughter's 7th birthday so I can choose a good one to hold this big celebration. So when we went there for dinner, I was already prepared not to look so surprised when I open the menu.

Actually, the moment we entered "The Dining Room" I still got surprised because I didn't imagine such a small hotel to have a very nice restaurant. It seemed like we entered a fancy resto, from the chandelier and the table setting to the ambiance. The prices didn't seem so bad either when I checked the menu.

The best part like I mentioned earlier was dining - the food tasted so good. We ordered pansit canton,
crispy pata, and kare-kare to go with our rice and they were super delicious. As my daughter said -
DELICIOSO! I think she heard that word from one of the kiddie shows on tv.    

Overall, we ended up enjoying our short stay in Mount Sea Resort. The price for hotel accommodation is just right for a 3-star hotel.

My rating: 

Pink Carbonara

You may be wondering why it is pink carbonara.

Well, that's because I prefer putting hotdogs in this recipe. Its red color makes my sauce pink.  You can use chicken hotdogs if you prefer the sauce to be white as it should be, it's just hard to find a tasty brand of chicken hotdogs.

I have tried using good brands of ham before for this recipe but using hotdogs is still the best. Purefoods and Virginia hotdogs are the two best brands for me.

Ingredients:

½         kilo linguine pasta

5-6       cloves garlic, minced

1          medium-sized onion, minced

1          small can of sliced button mushrooms, drained

8          hotdogs, sliced or chopped pieces of ham

1          Knorr chicken cube

½         kilo minced beef or pork

2          packs or cans of all-purpose cream

1          cup water

salted butter

Directions:

1.      Cook the pasta according to its instructions. Set aside.

2.      Fry the sliced hotdogs in butter for about 5 minutes, set aside. Fry the drained mushrooms in the same pan where the hotdogs were fried and set aside also.

3.      In a separate pan, sauté garlic and onion in butter. Do not let the garlic and onion turn brown.

4.      Add and dissolve one chicken cube, then add in the mince. Mix well until the meat turns brown.

5.      Add the fried hotdogs and mushrooms and continue stirring for about 5 minutes more.

6.      Add the all-purpose cream and then the water. Stir and wait for the sauce to thicken.

7.      You can now adjust the taste by adding half or one more chicken cube, and water depending on your preference. Some people like their sauce thick and some prefer it runny.

8.      Remove from heat and pour the sauce on top of the pasta. You can also put crushed, fried bacon on top as garnish before serving. 

Christmas Fruitcake

Christmas is fast approaching. I never miss a Christmas without making this for my loved ones and friends. This is my special gift for them every year straight from my very own kitchen.

What's good about making your own fruitcake is that it is not oozing with rum and you can put just how much you want in it.

This recipe has just enough rum and brandy in it for me. You can add more to it or less as you prefer.

Ingredients:

½         cup raisins
½         cup mixed dried fruits
½         cup nuts (cut into small pieces) or cherries
½         cup brandy and/or rum

3          cups sugar (set aside 1 cup for caramelizing the sugar)
½         cup warm water
2          cups all purpose flour
2          tsp. baking powder
6          eggs
2          tsp. vanilla essence
3          tsp. powdered spices (a combination of at least 2 or 3 of these: nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves or cardamom)

250     grams butter (softened)
pinch of salt

Directions:

1.      Chop the first four ingredients into small pieces. Soak them in brandy or rum or a combination of both and keep in a plastic container. Some people soak them for a week or two, but for me overnight is enough if you prefer a milder taste for your fruitcake.

2.      Caramelize the 1 cup of sugar that was set aside.
Put it in a medium sauce pan with 1 tbsp. of water. Stir continuously and use only medium heat. Do not stir. The sugar will melt first and then gradually becomes molten syrup. After taking it off the stove, wait at least 5 minutes before slowly adding 1/2 cup of warm water and stir immediately before it crystallizes back. Be careful when pouring the water into the syrup to avoid splashing which can cause 
     severe burns. Stir well to dissolve completely and then let it cool.

3.      Preheat your oven to 350⁰F or 180⁰C. You can use any size of baking pan or dish according to your preference, but for this recipe measurement you can use a 12x8 baking dish or 3 bread pans. Line your baking pan with parchment paper or brush it with butter to avoid sticking of the cake to your pan or dish.

4.      Sift all the dry ingredients together in one container. Add half of the soaked fruits into it and mix well. Set aside.

5.      Beat the butter and powdered sugar until it becomes light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, do not overbeat as this will make the cake harder.

6.      Fold in half the flour mixture and half of the caramel that was prepared earlier. Mix well with a spatula or a spoon. Add the remaining half of both, making sure there are no more lumps.

7.      Finally, add the vanilla essence and 1 tsp. of brandy drained from the soaked fruits and mix.

8.      Pour the batter into your baking pan and bake for 20 minutes. 

9.      Take the cake out of the oven and add the remaining half of the soaked fruits on top of it drop by drop. Avoid a long delay in doing this to prevent the temperature of the cake to cool down. This is to make sure that the fruits and nuts are spread evenly on the whole cake because most of the fruits will sink to the bottom if we add them all at once.

10. Put the cake back in the oven and bake for another 30-35 minutes.

11. Prick the cake in the middle using a skewer and if it comes out clean, then your fruitcake is done.

12. Take the cake out of the oven and brush with brandy from the drained fruits.

Tips:

·        If the fruitcake will not be consumed immediately, brush all the surfaces of the left over cake with fresh brandy, wrap it in a cheesecloth and keep in an air tight container like in an emptied can of powdered milk.

·        If you are in a hurry, you can just use plain sugar in place of the caramelized one. KThis will save you time; but caramelizing it the way I do will enhance the flavor of your cake.

Kidzania Manila Review

We have been to Kidzania Manila a few days ago. I honestly didn't know what to expect except that the kids will do role playing as adults inside while we wait for them outside the shop, site or whatever they call them.

Here is a picture of the very middle of Kidzania facing the ABS-CBN Theater where the kids perform or dance every hour.

This was our first try of everything else because it was beside the BPI bank where she exchanged her 50 kidzos that she got upon entering Kidzania.

My princess was the only girl of six kids who tried being a radio station announcer. They had a few minutes of briefing and then they started reading their lines from the computer. Being the only girl in the group, she got all shy even though she reads very well already at age six. The other kids were much bigger than her, maybe aged 10-11.

Our second stop was the ER. They had Emergency Medical Personnel training for about 10 minutes before they rode the Ambulance to try out what they've learned.

She said that they administered treatment to a lady who passed out in one of the places they went to while inside the ambulance.

All the parents, including me of course, were so excited to take pictures of our kids riding the ambulance. It's exciting even for us to see them do big people's jobs.

Now, it's her  turn to be a firefighter. We had to wait an hour to get her turn because she was waiting at the third batch when she lined up. So I let her wait in line  while I got our take-out lunch from McDonald's inside Kidzania where they are doing trainings also for Kiddie crews. 

Firefighter briefing also lasted about 10 minutes before they got into the fire truck. She said they they went to Purefoods factory to check if they are abiding by the fire safety rules. They all had checklists to see if the factory had emergency lights, CCTV camera, fire alarm, sprinklers, EXIT sign , etc.

While I was waiting for the kids to come back from their firefighter duty outside the fire department, I saw Regine velasquez with her son together with Michelle Van Eimeren and her two daughters. I didn't take any pictures of them as I am not a fan of showbiz stars.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, they sounded the alarm because the Flamingo Hotel was on fire. The kids on training at that time were the ones who put out the fire.

Next, we decided to go to the second floor where all the food stuff are. We went to Goldilocks first and she tried her hands on cake decorating. In our house, I let her decorate some cupcakes but Mommy does all the big cake decorating so this was her turn to do whatever she wanted to do with her mini cake.

Then we went to the Cream-O Cookie Factory, again she was the only girl in that batch but she already got used to it. Seeing the expressions on the faces of the kids after getting the finished all-packed product was precious.

Just beside the cookie factory is the Purefoods factory. No, they didn't make their own hotdogs but what they did was making their own chicken nuggets.

Seventh stop - performing at the ABS-CBN Theater. They rehearsed their dance steps for about 10 minutes like before, got their outfits on and then performed for all of us. The lights made recording and taking of pictures very difficult.

Our last activity for the day, making of Piattos chips at the Snack Factory - the Jack n' Jill factory. Like making the cookies, they watched everything happen from the flattening of the dough, rolling it out, cutting it out into hexagonal shapes, putting them into the machine until they get the packed, finished product.

We were inside Kidzania for seven hours and we were only able to go through eight activities. How many places are there inside Kidzania, you might ask? Check out the map.

Each number for each floor represents one establishment.

We definitely have reasons to go back there again. 

This is a must for every kid. I wish we had this kind of establishments when we were kids.

The only thing I didn't like when we went there was that I think they've allowed too many kids inside at the same day. We came with our fellow homeschooling families and we were just about thirty people (kids and parents). There were 3 other schools having their field trips brought by 2-3 big buses for each school. This made waiting in line so much longer since every activity lasted around 45  minutes. They should only allow a limited number of participants to avoid overcrowding.

Anyway, my overall rating  for Kidzania is: 

Halloween Costume Parties 2015

It's Halloween again.

My daughter just loves costume parties. Since she was still two, she's watched her cousins dress up for this event. Now that she's a little bigger, she is loving it. Getting the treats is just a bonus.

For this year, we've decided to join the carnival themed halloween party at Island Cove.

What I liked there was that even though there were a lot of kids who joined, the crowd were more
civilized than the previous years where we've just gone to the malls for halloween programs. I guess the word to describe it is exclusive. Whereas going to the malls is not just overcrowded, it's too congested, jam-packed and even swarming to where you'd rather stay outside. Most of the times, I just convince my daughter that we'll just buy better treats just so she'll agree to get out of the event area.

Some went overboard with their costumes.

The staff of Island Cove pretended to be zombies in this fun house. So many kids were crying but my daughter didn't because I told her to close her eyes if she gets scared.

This is the first year where we've actually paid for a fee to join. Next year, we are definitely going to the parties with fees.

Well, that was the plan until my sister told my princess that they (with her cousins) are going to a mall where she can join because the theme was for Kings and Queens.

So we went there too yesterday and she was dressed as "The Good Snow Queen." She won second place for that category, one cousin won first place for the Pirates and Fairies, and another one won first place also for the Kings and Queens for teens category.

It was indeed a happy event.