The Art of Ikebana

I am fond of arranging flowers. As a matter of fact I am making some bouquets for birthday, anniversary, valentines, and for any events. I sometimes arrange wedding flower arrangements, thinking of becoming a florist someday.

Now I plan to make some Ikebana. We knew that ikebana is the Japanese way of arranging flowers with art. It is a way putting nature and humanity together. As for me it is a creative way of making flower arrangement utilizing some living branches, leaves, grasses, and blossoms in one container. With proper combination of shapes and colors, it forms a great floral decoration.

The idea behind ikebana is to build a link between indoors and outdoors. Thus, we can see different types of plants in a single arrangement. And for a single type of flower being used, it should bring its full implication about nature.

It's been a past time for me to create one ikebana every week. It's a good feeling creating one!

Huat Chan: The First Authentic Chinese Restaurant in Tarlac

Are you craving for Chinese foods? Then Huat Chan can be a place to be. Huat Chan is an oriental inspired restaurant located at Mc Arthur highway, Tarlac City.

At Huat Chan they serve the finest Southeast Asian cuisines, best for any event like birthday, baptismal, debut, wedding, conferences, and meetings. What I like in this restaurant is their eat-all-you-can during Tuesdays. I can get all of my favorite menu. Aside from that they've got good services, courteous and well trained staff.

Lovely Guinea Pigs

My kids wanted to have another pet after our goldfish was not able to survive due to days of power interruption.So I asked them what they wanted. My son like to have a dog, my daughters wanted a baby cat. But we have another pets in mind. We wanted a guinea pig

We get 4 guinea pig from my hometown beacuse my cousins have 12. They are small yet cute and lovely pets. We bought them a bamboo cage where the can play and sleep. The cage is situated on our backyard where my kids play too so they can interact with the guinea pigs. We adopted 4 guinea pigs so they are not lonely. They are herd animals that they wanted a company. One of them is a male so later they can have babies.

We feed our guinea pigs with grasses and feeds pellets. They love grasses so we usually get from our neighboring vacant lots. They also like bananas and carrots.

We love spending time with the guinea pigs. It takes away our stress from work. Thanks to them for being sociable animals!

Delicate Beauty of Orchids

I have a little and nice garden in our house. And now gardening is a past time, which takes away my boredom, stress, worries, emotional as well as mental tensions.

I love flowers and I started collecting orchids because they are graceful and elegant flowers. They are simple yet rare and exotic beauty.

Orchids are popular houseplants despite of being expensive. Each of us has a reason why we love orchids. Some probably like them because it signifies wealth, strength, or love. For me, its because of its rare and delicate beauty.

There are many varieties of orchids. With its 20,000 to 30,000 varieties, it's proven to have the largest variations. We have Dendrobium, Cymbidium, Cattleya, and butterfly orchids.

Cowan in Tarlac Philippines

I enjoyed tasting different kinds of foods especially Japanese cuisines.

Many of our Japanese staffs dine at Cowan restaurant maybe because there is no other Japanese restaurant near our area. So one day I visited and dine here and found out that they've got great menu. And from that time it's got every month that I wanna eat here.

What I love at Cowan are California maki, tempura, cowan salad, and miso soup to name a few.

Zoobic Safari, Philippines

We, together with my kids, are very excited on our field trip ti Zoobic Safari. My kids can't sleep well when they've known that we will be going to Zoobic Safari already.

There are a lot to see at Zoobic Safari. There are many varieties of birds and I can't even memorize them all. But my kids have the experience to feed some birds on their hands. They were not afraid since these birds are lovely.We alsi tried feeding some tigers but we are in a sealed jeepney as we go to their dwelling place. Of course it's for our safety. Aside from that we also have encounter with many crocodiles as we go to the Croco Loco. It's quite nervous to see them in person. I hate crocodiles. But my kids have enjoy evert minutes of our stay at Zoobic Safari!

Tropical Fruits from Pangasinan

I like when someone visits us from our province in Pangasinan. Expect to have some pasalubong from them.

I always get a cavan of rice, 1 bundle of banana, mango fruits and a lot more. Therr are also some rice cakes or kakanin that my kids love to eat. There are also corn bits, banana chips and peanuts that everyone will surely like it. It's truly a blessing to have them all!

Favorite JCO Donuts

JCO, I think is the fastest growing donut and coffee chain in Indonesia. Now it's invading Philippines.

JCO is popular because of its good flavors and donut quality. Alcapone is the most famous donut and most wanted by most people. There are many varieties of donuts available at JCO that includes Glazzy and Tira Miss U. All of these flavors have a great taste.

Now we can see JCO in many locations in the Philippines like in many branch of SM City, Ayala center, Alabang Town Center, Eastwood city, Araneta center, Trinoma, etc.

Azaya Tarlac City for Wedding Venue

Azaya is a resort found in the north, particularly in Tarlac City. It is the former Coconut Grill. Azaya is known for its cozy environment. Thus many of us like to book for an event here.

There are many things to do at Azaya. It's a great place for wedding events. One can actually choose from indoor to outdoor wedding event. There's a swimming pool great for adults as well as for kids. There's a lake where one can catch some fishes like Tilapia. You can also rent a room with videoke. And there's a lot more to do. You may visit the resort at all times.

Lechon Liempo to Celebrate

There are many reasons to celebrate! We celebrate when good things happen to us, when there is a birthday or anniversary, or even when we got good grades in school or when we are promoted at work.

For every celebration we always have Lechon Liempo. It's crispy and delicious, which always satisfy our craving. I'd love the way it is cooked in the Turbo broiler, which ended up juicy and crispy and scrummy! And aside from Lechon Liempo, we also cook pansit, spaghetti, and some other chicken recipes.

Valentines Day 2014

It's always lovely to celebrate Valentines Day! The entire world is inlove and we can feel it all over. Yes, Valentines Day is not only for lovers but it's for everyone who care and love someone, towards a family, peer, friends, colleagues, etc.

There are many ways to show our love to someone. Some gives flowers, chocolates, teddy bears, and other stuffs. My husband gave me a bunch of roses and a cake! I gave some flower bouquets to my kids too. We dine in our favorite restaurant too. Such a lovely day indeed!

New Year, New Favorite

Gone are the coffee days. Hello to a new favorite, smoothies!

Smoothies are not only delicious but also a healthy drink. I just love its thick smooth and flavorful drink of fresh fruits pureed with ice cream, yogurts or milk. Not only me who have been into this drink but my whole family enjoyed it too.

Movie Treat

I Love holidays because there are many promos out there. As a matter of fact I joined one of the contest at SM City Tarlac, which is the picture Tweets. My subject is my daughter who is likely embracing Sta Claus.

I was surprised when the judges finally told us the winner and they called my name. It was a great experience as this is my first time to join such contest. As a winner, I received a cash prizes and movie tickets.

Trick or Treat Halloween Special

Every year we usually joined the Trick or Treat Halloween special at SM Tarlac City. We gotta roam around SM from lower ground floor to the last floor so we can get many candies.

During the first years of SM there are a lot of tenants participating but now only few joined the event. My kids are very active to collect many goodies from this event. They also love taking pictures with those in Halloween costumes.

It's a tiring day but it's worth it!

The Goldfish

My kids have always wanted to have a pet but since they're still young I don't want to buy dogs as I am afraid they maybe biten. So I decided to buy a goldfish.

Upon seeing the goldfish my kids are so happy and they wanted to catch them. My baby boy catches one and he's happy with it. These goldfish are adorable because of their golden color. Aside from that they are lively roaming around the aquarium.

My Handcrafted Bags

Bags have many purposes, they have more than a practical usage. They are a great accessories and says about its owner. I love this handcrafted bag because of its cut and design. This bag makes me comfortable where ever I go. Indeed, this bag is a good investment as it is of good quality and design. I can enjoy putting what I need in my daily travel (from home to office).

Hanging Out at Starbucks

I usually wait for my love of my life at Starbucks. So I hang out at Starbucks, sipping some great coffee and enjoying some good cakes. Sometimes I'm with my colleagues staying with me at the coffee shop while waiting for my husband. I like staying at Starbucks because I love the aroma of coffee granules; it reminds me of my grandfather who loves coffees.

Bite-Sized Yakitori

If you love chickens, you probably wanna order Yakitori, which is grilled chicken speared on sticks. Eat all the chicken as all different parts of the chicken, thighs, skin, liver, etc. can be used for yakitori! Amazing isn't it?

As for me, if I order yakitori I usually have a choice of having it cooked with salt (shio) or with tare sauce, which is generally made up of mirin, sake, soy sauce and sugar. I preferred the tare sauce to be applied to the skewered meat and is grilled until delicately cooked.

What part of the chicken I don't like the most is the gizzard. It's bitter when grilled. Thus I don't like them.

Japanese Winter Dish Oden

I never knew about this food before. But when our Department's general manager introduced this during our Nihongo lesson, we have a dinner at Niji restaurant and ordered 2 bowls of this kind.

This is popular during winter season and is considered as their winter dish. Oden consists of several ingredients like boiled eggs, daikon radish, konnyaku, and processed fish cakes stewed in a light, soy-flavoured dashi broth.

You wanna try this one? Maybe, they're available at any Japanese restaurant in the Philippines.

Savoury Okonomiyaki

This what we call "as you like it Pancake".

Okonomiyaki is a popular food in Japan made up of flour, grated nagaimo, water or dashi, eggs and shredded cabbage. Sometimes it also contains other ingredients such as green onion, meat (generally pork or bacon), octopus, squid, shrimp, vegetables, kimchi, mochi or cheese.

For me, it is like an omelette or a pancake and may be referred to as a "Japanese pizza". Oh I love this food but I can't eat that much. Just hope to have them again in Niji restaurant!