Borders - Where Minds Meet

 

 ABBEY:

After my gift from Manny (a bout with Antonia Margarita), then came the Borders. I convinced Wilma to go to the booksale, because I want her to get a new book for a cheaper price of course. :) Once there, she went her way to the novels. For me, to the computer books, trying to find a book about Oracle. After searching dozens of books, I found three, but they're worth the search :) ASM, Oracle 10g, and Oracle OCP exam tips. Di pa nga ako OCA, OCP na agad book ko. Hahaha. And as we are about to pay the books, there came my birthday surprise. "All those who celebrate their birthdays today, more book discounts." Just kidding. The announcement was all computer books will be 5SGD only. Imagine, PHP9k worth of books now only PHP150. Happy birthday to me :)

WILL: It will be unusual if it doesn't rain in our town in weekends. As in heavy rain poured down last November 14, so I am thinking not to go to Borders markdown price, but baby insisted.

      After side trip in Cosplayers in AFA X, we went to Borders Books. Ayun, so many books I don't know where to start the hunt. 

      I ended up buying 2 fiction books and Trump's for only S$5.00. But Abbey has books that have a great great discount and very helpful for his love job. 

      I hope there will be books regarding international trade for next year's sale. hehe.. I am just demanding. Tapos tag price sana S$2.00 heheehe.

 

Batchoy

VERDICT:

WILL: This is the viand I am talking about on my recent post... The Batchoy. 

It was my first day of work on a foreign country, so I am little bit exhausted due to many changes for the new job. When I got home, Abbey ask me to look at casserole, then I just tell okay, thinking it is a nilaga. 

Aba! When he is serving the food, I smelled a familiar scent! It was my fave fave ulam.

The taste is so fine, bit spicy, and the sayote is half-cooked. 

So happy to have a man like Abbey.. sarap magluto.

Pizza Hut Singapore

Abbey:
Nakatunog na naman si Wilma na dito kami kakain. It was supposed to be my surprise to her kasi pag nakikita niya yung ad ng 7-cheeses ng Pizza Hut she's really craving for it. Kaya one Sunday after church, I told her that we will go to Harbourfront Centre para maghanap nung yarn para sa curtain namin. Ang mali ko lang hindi agad kami nagpunta sa Pizza Hut, naglibot muna. Nabuko tuloy ako. But I knew she was happy. We were greeted by the staff and I ask them if they have a table for two. We made our order and as we waited for the sumptuous pizza we noticed that almost all the staff were Filipino. Ang galing parang nasa Pinas na ulit kami. The soup came. It was good. Then the pizza. I remember I heard a "wow" from Wilma. Tuwang-tuwa siya sa cheese. After saying graces, nilantakan na namin ung food. The drink is called Emerald Sparkle. Para siyang Sprite spiked with green apple syrup. Sarap, ang tamis. Pizza Hut offers this meal for two for about 25SGD. Sarap at reasonable ang price. Ulit-uli :)

 
WILL: Whoa! Mess up again with my Abbey's surprise, sorry darl! hehe. So we, finally ate at Pizza Hut Singapore. :) What the fuzz with their place? The seven cheeses.. What I expect? Salty, but its not that so salty. Yeah maalat but creamy. 
      Pizza Hut Malaysia, eh maanghang ang timpla, Pizza Hut China, you'll make an effort to blend some salt and pepper to savor up their food, because its bland pero naguumapaw sa meat. Ito, just what my taste buds is looking for the past few days.
      After the saltiness, eat some brownies and ice cream. So perfect combination eh. Love Abbey, thanks a lot!

Marigold - Peel Fresh

ABBEY:

These juices helped me to survive getting cold and cough here at SG. Iba talaga ang natural compared to Vitamin C from drugstore. My mom also told me to drink juice to boost my immune system. Good thing here, there's a good variation of juices which means lot choices for me. We already tried mangosteen, wheatgrass and veggies, apple with aloe, carrot, black currant, mixed berries and the classic OJ. :)

WILL: I am fond of drinking juice, pinalaki ako ng parents ko na puno ng juice yung fridge namin. So when we saw it on grocery stand, I knew I want to taste this juice, a concoction of fruits and veggies. 

      At first, Abbey is in doubt to taste it, but it is soooo good, and Abbey easily became an instant fan of this nutritious drink. 

      These days, its better to drink good juices than to take some synthetic medicines. 

      

Shower Gel - The Body Shop

ABBEY:
Gusto ko yung amoy nung mga shower gel ng Body Shop, particularly
yung mga citrus fragrances. Ang bango ng buong banyo :) Tapos talagang feeling refreshed ka. Kaya when on sale, we took the opportunity to buy 2 bottles. I hope mas dumami pa yung time ng sale nila at mas madaming products including sa sale :) Good job, Body Shop.

WILL: Okay, okay, okay. I know, I am kuripot and why would I buy some kind of shower gels like this that will cost us S$12.90 but when I saw their poster, shocks, its only S$5.00. So we bought 2 kinds of these. :) 
      So what will you expect with the Body Shop's shower gel? The scent will not leave your body as soon as you wash it down, it still lingers.
      

AFA X - Anime Festival Asia

ABBEY:

I'm not a super fanatic of anime.Few of them I only knew, Naruto, Ghost Fighter, Slamdunk. But I was amazed when we got to Suntec Convention center to buy books. This was only a side trip :) Imagine you'll meet the characters in person. That was great. I don't recognized the other characters. Then one familiar costume caught my eye. A black wrap-around cape with red clouds. Akatsuki!!! Good thing there's Kakashi sensei around. Without any idea of what we will see at the convention, I realized that I wore also my Superman shirt :) Nice Clark.

WILL: My thoughts were wrong. When I saw their advert, I am hesitant to ask Abbey to go to AFAX, we were at Suntec Convention for the Borders book sale. But on MRT, we are lil bit surprise that there are so many kids still in costume. 

      Cosplayers flocked up the convention's 3rd to 4th floor. So happy to see Naruto's friends and the sexy sailor moon's casts. 

      This is a good way for children to interact with others and to heat up their creative minds for their costumes. 

      Love Anime.

The Handburger

Abbey:
I told Wilma that I'll pick her up after office so we can have dinner together. We planned to eat at McDonald's. But we changed our plan because she said she wanted to have donuts for snack then have our dinner at home instead. At MRT we alight at City Hall station and stroll City Link Mall to reach Dunkin Donuts. As we walked, we were delighted by the newly opened diners at the mall. We tried to take a look then fixed our eyes on The Handburger. After asking a table for two a couple of minutes later we found ourselves ordering food. We had pulled-pork burger (strips of pork made up the patty), stuffed portobello burger (12 cm-portobello mushroom stuffed with spinach), onion rings, corny chicken (with bits of carrots, ground pork, kernel corn), hot green tea and iced lemon tea. All items is 30SGD. Not much right? The food is good. Different for my taste. The soup is rich in flavour and the burger is not like an ordinary burger in style and presentatioin. After paying the bill, the Pinoy staff also gave us a membership card. Nice :)

WILL: Isn't great to have a date after your busy day? Nowhere to go, I am just craving for a sweet donut, but when we saw that other stores where open, we decided to give it a try. And the try don't fail. Burger served in plates, expect it to be big one. I ordered the vegetarian burger. I just like eating something out of ordinary, and of course the taste will be different. Different in a very good way. So delicious, yummy ng mushroom.
      Of course a drink of hot tea for me. A chicken soup (creamy lah), and onion rings. 
      Abbey got a card and when we registered the card online, we were surprised that we have a points came from our first dinner with them. hehehe. Nice noh?

The Food Safari

ABBEY: 

We went to the Food Safari after my shift. Wilma attended lot of food expo back in the Phil. She was excited to come to this expo for free tasting :) And the food prices on this event is cheaper. We checked out the Pinoy stall. They offered buko, embotido, and barbecue. Pinoy na Pinoy talaga. Others show variety of cheese, teas, beer, Peking ducks, breads. Then there's the Turkish stall. I fixed my eyes on their shawarma. But the twist is that they put the fillings not in a pita bread but in a large pandesal. Sarap. I told Wilma to buy their ice cream because they serve their ice cream with a trick. Wilma was surprised with it. :) After we ordered, lot of people flock the stall. Good charm. Hehe.

WILL: I lilli, lilli like it! hehehe. I am always in expos lalo na sa food fares. Why? Busog dyan eh! Food taste and freebies is the primary reason why we went there in Abbey. Ayun, tummy was so full :) 

      Unforgettable, buying some turkish ice cream! Milka, wohhh, ynnah, I have it here. Nuttella 2 for SGD10.00 and the turkish ice cream is S$2.00. 

      More more more, food expos please?

Singapore Botanic Gardens

ABBEY:

Another park for free :) Opo, libre po ang entrance sa Singapore Botanical Gardens. Nagpunta kami dyan after office. Ganda ng gate, parang gate ng isang mayamang tao na nakatira sa Corinthian or Forbes. At the entrance, may available nang maps para maka-plan ng lakad sa loob ng park. Nandun din agad yung pond na may mga koi. This place is good for meditation/yoga, picnic, pre-nup photo (look at the photo na nasa bench ako at may bahay sa likod, romantic). Among the gardens were the cactus, bonsai, and orchid gardens. Speaking of orchids, nandun din ang official flower ng SG. Kaya lang walang bulaklak dahil di pa niya season. Buti na lang pauwi na kami nung nagsimulang bumuhos ang ulan. Kaka-refresh ng isip kapag nakapunta ka dito after a day's work. :)

WILL: I forgot how to get in here majestic garden. My memory lost when I saw a green snake hanging on one of a great tree. hehe..

      Isn't great to have a garden like in the middle of busy streets of Singapore? Of course, no entrance fee.. hehe.. you can jog here, meditate, sit down and have a picnic, even have a great date. There are so many students here doing some projects maybe or assignments. 

      Do not forget to grab some map and have them back to their proper box. Save paper, save trees, save gardens. hehe.. 

      In one hour you can see the whole park. 

Pacquiao VS Margarito

ABBEY: 

Thank you for the birthday gift Manny. Antonia Margarita na siya. Ok lang kahit walang knockout, grabe naman ang damage sa mukha. Ano na namang trash talk kaya ng mag-amang Gayweather? Bahala sila. Basta napatunayan ni Manny, siya ang best at mas yumaman pa siya ngayon. Napasaya niya ang bawat Pilipino sa buong mundo. Kaya sa kampo ni Senyorita Margarita, kainin niyo lahat ng pinagsasasabi niyo. Congrats, congressman.

WILL: Wohooooo.. Happy Birthday Abbey! Gift yan ni Margarito sayo hehehe. Galing tlaga ni Mannyyyyyy Pacquiaoooooo.. So Nice we have this fight live and free on Ch. 202. Dati nanonood kami ng mga brothers ko sa SM North and Trinoma pa, now free hehe at the comfort of your own home. From there I hope Manny will take his rest.. Wohooooooo! 

      

Pork Steak

Pork Steak

Peel 3 Potatoes

Calamasi - 20 pcs

1 Tbsp. of Minced Garlic

8 pcs of Pork Chop

2 Onion

1 cup Soy Sauce

Steps:

1. Fry the potatoes. Set aside.

2. Saute the minced garlic, before the garlic turns brown, add the pork.

3. Add the soy sauce and let it simmer until the meat become tender.

4. Add the calamansi juice. Let it simmer for 5 mins.

5. Salt and Pepper to taste.

6. Add in the onion rings and fried potatoes.

7. Serve.

VERDICT:

WILL: One of my fave na ulam ito. When Abbey asked me kung ano ang gusto ko na lutuin nya, I told him to cook some "Batchoy" pero he denied my request, then I asked him to made some pork steak. Then, he agreed.

      The sourness overpower the salty taste of soy sauce, sarap. I like to eat half cooked onions, kaya Abbey throw in the onions just before the last simmer. Yung potatoes was fried, so imagine that, how good his version of pork steak :)

Kaya Toast - Lau Pa Sat

ABBEY:
Actually, hindi ito yung dapat namin na kakainan. I came from night-shift. Sinundo ako ni Wilma sa office kasi we planned to try Tapa King's breakfast sa Lau Pa Sat. Pagdating namin dun, yung lang ang tindahang bukas. Ang tindi talaga ng mga Chinese. Talagang maaga palang nagsisimula na sila magtrabaho. So we decided to buy a set of kaya toast including na yung 2 coffees at 2 half-cooked eggs. At ang presyo? 2.50SGD. Ayos na :) Masarap ang lasa lalo na pag-sinasawsaw sa itlog. Tapos yung coffee ibang klase ang pagka-brew. Iba sa natitikman ko sa ibang coffee shop. It's a good thing na after ng night shift, meron kang makakain na ganito sa almusal. Kaya after namin dun, tulog talaga ako sa MRT. Thanks for the treat Wil.




WILL: Fond of Kaya Toast and half cooked egg. The best of this kind of food in Manila is the Kopi Roti. Pero di type ni Abbey yun when we dated sa branch nila sa The Columns. 
      I don't know why I like this. I am not into egg whites kasi I am more than of yolk. Hehe, kaya imagine ang plate nmin ni Abbey pag may sunny side-up kami ni egg.
      Sa Lau Pa Sat, iba ang timpla ng coffee, brewed in different way. Then the toast is crunchy. Then the eggs adding some sault and is nice then dip in the bread. Really good. 
      We tried other hawker's kaya toast but no one came near to Lau Pa Sat's taste. :)