City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende

City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A children's book that already teaches about nature, politics, religion, and culture. *thumbs up*


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Thanks to Alyssa for giving me the book! :D

First Baking Attempt: Oreo Chocolate Cream Cheesecake

The result of my first baking attempt with Edmund and Alyssa. :D We followed the recipe from Kraft Foods. Well, not quite because Edmund and I can't find BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate in the grocery. We bought one 500g Dutche Chocolate Bar, which is the only available brand of chocolate for baking.


Alyssa was in charge of the crust. I can tell that she was well-suited for the job. She put all her strength into crushing the Oreo cookies - pounding it with the end of a butcher knife, and even pounding it with bare hands against the wall. :)) After ensuring that the Oreo biscuits were finely crushed, she baked it for 10 mins. Igniting the oven for the first time was very dangerous for us. :p A portion of Edmund's hair on his right hand got burned. -.- But the experience was still funny because of Alyssa's immediate reaction when the oven suddenly blew a large breath of fire as it sprang to life - she instantly backed-off and glued ala spider-woman against the wall behind her. :))


I was in charge of melting the big chocolate bar. I don't know but this is the same responsibility I got when I was still a freshman in high school and we were baking a chocolate cake during our Home Economics class. Haha! I laboriously melted the small-to-medium chunks of chocolate that Edmund chopped and occasionally put on the pan. The chocolate was melted through the steam produced from boiling water while constantly stirring the chunks of chocolate until it was completely in liquid form. From time to time, we can't resist dipping our fingers and tasting the melted chocolate. :9 It was very delicious. :9 Thumbs up for Dutche chocolate bars. :D


Lastly, Edmund was in charge of mixing the filling itself. :) He worked as a substitute to our future mixer. :)) He carefully measured the amount of sugar, vanilla, and cream cheese required for the filling. As mentioned above, he was also responsible in other slightly more demanding  tasks as well like igniting the oven, chopping blocks of chocolate, putting and lifting pans off the hot oven or stove, etc.

Kada Meow at La Mesa Ecopark (= ^_ ^ =)

From plans of spending the summer at Puerto Galera to Zambales to Antipolo, our Kada Meow summer get away escapade happened last June 10, 2012 at La Mesa Ecopark. :))
Meet-up at KFC.

We saw each other 9AM at KFC Concepcion. We also bought our lunch there.
From left to right - Anika, Dawn, Kathleen, Margot.

Taxi Ride to Ecopark.

We rode a taxi to Ecopark. During the ride, we were praying for a good weather every time that droplets of an impending strong rain were splattering the taxi's windshield. Funny how the clouds seemed to tease us by pouring at random intervals some of their accumulated water. :p  Luckily, upon arrival to the park, God granted us a very fine weather. :D  


And Feels Like It's Our Own Paradise.
Also, thanks to the NBA Finals and the Pacquiao-Bradley fight, there were few people in the park. We can practically own a portion of the whole place. 

And so, after eating our lunch we decided to invade the playground first. :D

Next, we owned the [main] road and took jump shots until we perfected it and until our legs complain of the ordeal. :))

At Hana and Choto Stop in Little Tokyo

Through Edmund's navigation powers we  finally visited Little Tokyo last June 9, 2012. :)) Little Tokyo is situated along Chino Roces Avenue. Just find a way to reach Park Square One Mall and your just one jeepney ride away, you can always ask the driver to let you off at Little Tokyo. (But in our case, we had to take a different path because the shuttle didn't reach Park Square One Mall.) 

One of the two entrances to Little Tokyo. :)

When we arrived, I was a bit 'Ito na 'yun? (This is it?)' :)) I was thinking that the place would be more.. hmmm.. grander? Or just a little bigger than what it actually is. Hehe. There were also so few people around. Most shops were also closed. Maybe because it was a Saturday. But isn't it that more people is supposed to be out on weekends? XD Anyway, that was good for us because it meant lesser people are needed to be served. It also meant less stress from walking around while dodging people along the way. :)

On entering and going through what felt like a tunnel to Diagon Alley, we immediately saw the well-renowned Hana restaurant. :D

When we went inside, we were greeted with several "いらっしゃいませ！" :D
(Romaji: Irasshaimase! English Translation: Welcome to the store!) 

After taking our seats, the lady who assisted us gave the menu. And wow, I was overwhelmed with Kanji characters. =)) I really hope that I took the time to study and memorize at least five Kanji characters a day so that my Nihongo lessons are put to practice. XD Anyway, we ordered California Maki (a forever favorite :9) and bento without the gyoza.

This arrived shortly after we ordered our meal.
This one costs around Php200++.