Hot news on Tabloid! Tyler's new interest caught on film!

Just a mere few weeks have passed and Tyler has been spotted with a new bird. The couple was sighted awkwardly holding hands during Chinese New Year! When asked about this new development, Tyler denied it and claimed that Sienna still holds that special place in his heart. "Not a day goes by when i don't think of my Angel Face..."

Definitely some hand holding!!!

However, evidence clearly shows maybe Tyler is also thinking of other faces!! 

Sienna on the other hand, who is cool as cucumber as always waves it off as silly talk and says "besides, plenty of fishes in the seas anyways"

Will the lovely couple stand the test of time??

Apt 1B - Salcedo Village

Apt 1B is actually a restaurant that boasts of comfort foods. Alan and I wanted to beat the lunch crowd but with the 2 kids, we got beaten instead. So, when we got there, we were told that the restaurant is full and was turned away.

What? No waiting list?? Waiting list is a very American thing that i've gotten so used to. In other countries, i guess if the restaurant is full, it's full. People just move on with life.

We were however not so easily deterred and so we asked for a take away/out/togo(i still can't remember which word this country uses, it confuses the wait staff) order.

And i was tingling with excitement as i took the dishes out from the boxes and tried my best to make them look nice on my own plates.

I had ordered some baked samosa which were delightfully flaky parcels filled with cheese, mushroom and spinach. But shouldn't they be called spanakopita or borek?? In my mind, samosas are usually either filled with potatoes or meat with some spices.

Alan ordered his usual french onion soup with were very flavorful and thick topped with a soft cheesy crostini. As he said, better than most places, but not outstanding. There is a lot of BAD french onion soups out there.

Since i have a weakness for pasta, i went for Spaghetti Vongole which was delish and had a generous serving of Manila clams. It was perfectly seasoned though i think i prefer my tomatoes in little pieces.

I would like to give them a little extra credit just because i'm not sure how many restaurant can produce food that will survive a take away journey that well. Makes me want to go beat the crowd again!

Tsumura - Salcedo Village

My friend Hish should never go to this restaurant as she will never be able to decide what she wants to eat as the menu is 40 pages long(no kidding!). And each page has like 20 items or more on it. It's got more stuff than people in Japan eats!

After browsing the menu for 15 mins, Alan ordered his usual white-man dishes which consisted of gyoza(*roll eyes*), koroke(come on, it's potato croquets!) and tempura shrimp. I on the other hand went for a spicy scallop hand roll and a Chirashi.

The service was very fast and i was impressed by the size of the servings and even gave thumbs up to the white-man dishes. Gyoza skin was thin and well flavored and the potato croquets didn't taste like they came out of a box. And the tempura shrimp batter was light and fluffy.

My spicy scallop hand roll was merely OK and maybe just a tat soggy as the seaweed got a little chewy.  But i was definitely bowled over by my Chirashi. The nicely seasoned rice was covered by all kinds of fish and even had uni(sea urchin) in it!! What a treat!! It was such a big portion that i was so sad when i had to leave some behind.

On another trip, i ordered a shrimp tempura roll and a grilled tile fish. Shrimp tempura roll had a clean crunchy taste to it and my tile fish although good, left me wanting for more as it was only the size of my palm and no rice!!

So, Tsumura is definitely somewhere i would go back(coz i already did) but not a daily occurence as it's not too easy on the wallet.

Bento Box - Salcedo Village

Horrible horrible horrible.

I went in there for a quick order of their safest bet which is beef bowl. How can you screw up beef bowl? All you have to do is take some meat(beef obviously), put teriyaki sauce, fry it real quick.

But they did because i think they are trying to skimp on the beef which made my dish look like a big bowl of rice sprinkle with some dried black *ahem* .. sounds like curd.

Anyways, won't be going back which was too bad because i did like the atmosphere in there.

La Boheme - Makati

It's Holy Week and apparently it's BIG in the Philippines. So big that everything shuts. Restaurants, shops, malls etc. And what do I get? A big craving for some good food(OK, i admit, i crave for good food everyday) and my leftovers didn't sound so appetizing.

But my all-knowing husband was kind enough to tell me that La Boheme around the corner was actually open and even offered to take me there. So, here's the low down of it.

Nice atmosphere. Classy, quiet and serene. Looks expensive too. But a quick glance at the menu reflected otherwise. Prices were very reasonable.

We were seated promptly but i'm not sure if it's because we had 2 kids or just we were dressed in shorts, i have to say though the waiters were very professional, we didn't exactly got outstanding service. We had to flag them to get their attention most of the time. Other patrons seem to get good attention, though.

But anyways.. their food..

Seafood Cioppino - nicely plated

I ordered Seafood Cioppino which was quite thick and tomatoey and quite delicious. Though unlike other Cioppinos that i've had, it had a pleasing and almost homely taste. But if you were looking for big pieces of seafood, you will have to look quite hard!

For entree, Alan ordered the fish and chips. Fish and chips both were crispy and had the right crunch. It however was fried in palm oil or something(i have to find out) which make it smell like palm oil(??) which i didn't particularly like. But it is not the first time i've had food taste like that here in Php. So it might be a local thing.

Fish and Chips

I on the other hand went for the Salmon Dill Spaghetti which was creamy and rich. Bite size salmon pieces sprinkled among the spaghetti spares the dish from getting too heavy. It was a creamy, hit the spot delight.

My creamy delight

For dessert, I ordered their Crepe with Mango Flambe which was more for entertaining value for Tyler who got plenty excited by the fire created by the flambe. The dish itself though had a blazing start was a let down as the flambe was too sweet and drowned my teeny bit of crepe to a point of inedibility.

All in all, i think La Boheme was a good place and i would definitely come back to try more of its menu.

Our new home in Makati

Here are some pictures of our new apartment in the Philippines. We're living in an area called Salcedo Village in Makati. It's quite a nice little area that is close(nice 1 mile walk) to the mall area and seems to be quite international. Till sometime this week, i haven't actually even met a real Filipino(that is not a maid or domestic help)!!

The house came furnished though the furniture is probably older than me. But it was probably one of the nicer ones we saw as at least everything matched. Should have taken pictures of some of the really funky ones but i was too busy running out of that house probably!! ha!

Anyways, should have posted pics of the apt earlier but to get the entire house clean and tidy to be photographed was not always an option!! Had to eventually take them in different sessions! When we moved in, everything was covered in a layer of black dust though we told them to clean. But after living here for 2 weeks, i realized that it's because of the pollution and not the lack of cleaning. Every 2 - 3 days, everything that is not cleaned daily is coated by that layer of dust. Nightmare scenario!

Soft light to make our living and dining area look cozy

Check out our grandfather rattan furniture

Our dining area

Tyler's room - which has its own bathroom

Master bedroom

Guest bedroom

Kitchen is nice and roomy though i still can't work the oven

Laundry and maid's room(every house has a maid area)

This is the view from our living room

View from living room - nice little park across the road

Temporary toys

It's been 2.5 months and our stuff that we shipped is still not in our hands. It's actually arrived in the Philippines but due to 3rd world incompetence, it's sitting in some warehouse somewhere because we don't have the papers to get it out!

I didn't actually ship too much as i was told we'd have everything in our "furnished apartment" but one thing i did ship were the kids' toys and stuff. Since i've given up hoping that "this week will be the week", i've gone out and got some temporary equipment to contain and entertain(hmmm.. quite a catchy phrase) the kids. :)

Daddy was in charge of blowing up the toys

Codes, let me show you how to fly this thing..

Hmm..mmm..mmmm.. this is yummy..

Temporary bouncer

Something soft to catch Cody when he topples over

A place just to lounge for the kids..