Aling Taleng's Halo Halo

If you happen to go for a road trip further south of Laguna- to the Pagsanjan-Cavinti road, don't miss a chance to drop by Aling Taleng's Halo-halo. It has been in business since 1933.

Halo Halo goodness!

My husband hails from Cavinti and we have actually passed by Aling Taleng's more than a hundred times over many years.  When we returned to the Philippines in 2013, we noticed that Aling Taleng's usual hole-in-the-corner look is sporting splashes of sunny colors, making it stand out from an otherwise busy small town road. The place is also air-conditioned which is a welcome treat especially during hot and humid seasons in the Philippines.

It is actually more than just a halo halo kiosk, it is a restaurant that serves a full menu of local favorites ranging from all-day breakfast, seafood, chicken cooked different ways, sinful crispy pata, pata tim, lechon kawali and vegetable dishes. They also have the diner-variety faves like fried chicken and burger.

My favorite is the Tortang Patola.  Saw this in the menu and really got curious... I was not disappointed. Minced patola with a perfect coat of golden batter, crisp on the outside but surprisingly tasty for a quite-bland veggie. Whenever we dine at Aling Taleng's, Kyla and I look forward to ordering the Tortang Patola. We also love the Crispy Tilapia and the Butter & Garlic Chicken.

Loved the Tortang Patola

Garlic Fried Chicken

Not to forget the star of the menu -- the halo halo, but of course! The serving is generous with finely shaved ice and topped with a sweetened kundol. I am not a fan of halo halo but I would make an exception for Aling Taleng's. I particularly like finely shaved ice bits, halo halo is not overly sweet and ingredients have generous portions. The sweet kundol topping also worked for me instead of the usual ice cream. Definitely worth a trip!

And oh, you will be delighted to know that they have Wifi too!

The Line at Shangrila Hotel

For hubby's birthday this year, we decided to have a family dinner somewhere nice and cozy- for the lack of time to prepare home-cooked birthday dinner. That, and we wanted to try some new place instead of our usual neighborhood dinner joint.

A colleague recommended The Line - Shangrila Hotel's Buffet Restaurant. I had a quick look over at the internet and my! it does look mouth-watering. I booked our reservations online without difficulty.

Unlike other familiar hotel joints, Shangrila Hotel Singapore is nicely tucked away along Orange Grove Road. It is not a busy road yet close enough to remain close to the bustling Orchard area. The lobby of the hotel is grand and posh, typical of what is to expected from Shangrila Hotel.

Main Lobby with a hint of Mid-Autumn Festival ambience 

On the contrary, The Line boasts of minimalist interiors- stark white tables and chairs accentuated by Orange place holders and panel lights. I'd say the buffet selection is generous and covers a wide range of international dishes, divided into zones. From the entrance, the Seafood section and the Dessert station is the first visible stop, much to the delight of Kyla!

A glimpse of The Line's spacious dinning area

This is a section of the Dessert station.
Yes, they have choco fondue tower as well!

Further inside are the salads/appetizers, Japanese sushi/sashimi/maki station, Western fare (pasta, pizza, even french fries), Carving station, Dimsum/Chinese, Asian and Indian food station. You can also drop by the soup/noodle station to have a nice, hot noodle soup made as per your heart's desires.

I also love that they have a coffee and tea station, perfect to cap your night with the perfect dessert. On desserts, yes they do have the chocolate fondue tower, a crepe station, ice creams and gelato and gummies galore. The lime meringue pie I chose is just heavenly!

My desserts.

And since it was a birthday celebration for dear hubby, he was treated to a complimentary birthday cake as well!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Overall, I'd say one of the best buffet spreads and a pleasant dining experience-- I'm particular with buffet that is able to cater to young and adults' preference and The Line has surely got them covered!

Annie and an Afternoon Tea with My Girlie

I call it full circle.

I was in 3rd grade when I first watch the movie version of Annie. The entire grade 3 class from our school watched Annie as part of the school activity at the Ali Mall Cinema in Cubao which is very near our school.

And now, it is my 3rd grader's turn to watch Annie The Musical at the Marina Bay Sands Grand Theater.  Who can forget red-haired Annie and her lovable dog Sandy? Until this very day I can still sing the full lyrics of the song "Tomorrow."  I now have a little girl who sings it every so often...

We have chosen not to watch a lot of movies anymore these days but if there is a good play, I certainly wouldn't want to miss it for my little girl.


With the newly-opened Circle Line, going to MBS via MRT is now easier (and cheaper). Kyla insisted wearing a red dress, just like Annie's. And insisted we buy the souvenir programme. The major actors and actresses were mostly British stage actors. However, for the Singapore production, 304 girls from Singapore auditioned for the orphan roles and 27 were finally chosen. There were 2 dogs alternately playing Sandy. In this run, Sandy was a Golden Retriever. Picture taking was not allowed once the show starts though.
 



Annie fever goes on. Trying on a redhead wig at the souvenir shop.

 After the play, Kyla and I went to have an afternoon tea at the TWG. We've always wanted to do so but the queue was always too long. We were quite lucky this time. Except that of course she can't have tea (but a fruit shake instead).  The tea selection is like a list of hundreds so I decided to go with a simple caramel tea. This is served in sealed stainless pot that keeps it nice and warm.

Afternoon tea is not complete without finger foods (biscuits, the English type) or pastries like muffins, scones or the French macarons. Our muffins were served with apricot jam and cream (which Kyla monopolized). These are placed in dainty pastry trays. We had a leisurely time savoring our afternoon snack and enjoying mom-daughter bonding moments.



Fridays at PS Cafe

What is a better way to unwind at the end of a busy week than to spend it with good company, good food and a soothing cup/s of my favorite hot tea? And perhaps a decadent dessert once in a while. In a quiet, cozy place for nice and easy conversations. PS Cafe is just perfect or me.

PS stands for Project Shop. I have been to its branch in Paragon Mall quite a number of occassions with my hubby mostly. The one in Paragon Level 3 has a split dining location. A smaller area is located right beside the escalator and overlooking the main atrium. Great for cake and tea chit chat sessions for ladies. Across it is the main dining area with an adjacent shop of bags and shoes (also part of the PS Cafe). If you are on a date or with friends, the soft lighting makes for a lovely ambience.

What I really love about PS Cafe is the food which is what I would call a "green menu" -- a contemporary fusion of yummy comfort food we love with a twist of greens and other veggies in a presentation that is mouth watering and visually delectable!

When we first tried dining at PS Cafe, I decided to have Chicken Tau Kwa (tofu). It's a pan fried tofu with shredded chicken, greens with homemade sesame szechuan peppercorn dressing. Obviously got me coming back at PS Cafe.

Another pasta creation is the Veggie Greens. It's your good old spaghetti tossed with well, lotsa greens - artichoke, asparagus, french beans, broad beans and capers with olive oil dressing and topped with parmesan.  Hubby tried this.

One of PS Cafe's sandwhich variety is the Roasted Chicken. It's an open faced sandwich with heaps of roasted vegetables. The gouda cheese dressing is divine!

For me this taste spectacular as it looks. Coconut-Ginger Lemongrass Chicken Salad. Hubby tried to recreate this at home.

Last friday I was at PS Cafe with friend Belle. I tried the Green Garden Lasagne. These are assorted greens with slivers of mozzarella cheese, bechamel and portobello mushrooms, layered with herb ricota and spinach pasta topped with shaved fennel and almond salad. The serving is quite overwhelming for me but if you have a big appetite, this should be perfect. The picture is a bit dark because we were seated in their interior dining where lighting is toned down.

They have a wide array of sinful-looking desserts displayed in a glass covered cake tray. I don't have pictures because by the time I realized I needed to take a picture, we already started digging in! It's that tempting!

Good food had to go with a drink. I usually prefer hot tea or coffee after dinner. They also have wine, juices and cocktails. I was told that the Paragon branch's menu is a junior version of the entirety of PS Cafe's menu, so it is worth visiting their three other branches around Singapore too!

And next time, I will remember to snap a pic of their slabs of decadent sweets!

Not Your Ordinary Ice Cream

Udders is not your not your ordinary ice cream parlor -- here, the ice cream comes with boost of booze! Yes, you read it right!



Menu Board at Udders Novena Branch

Located along the perimeter of Goldhill Plaza in Novena is an obscure-looking shop called Udders. In daylight, it looked like any other hole in the wall parlor but come night fall, this little corner comes alive!

On a first glance at their menu board, you would actually think you are in a bar than an ice cream shop. But there is actually more than meets the eye... Udders boast of making their own ice cream from milk as fresh like it come out straight from the... well, the udders! Their flavors are then laced with Rum, Tequila, Vodka, Cognac or liquer and other poison of your choice. You get the drift.

For first timers, you will never go wrong by trying their best seller range. I tried Bailey's and Bourbon. It's a vanilla flavor based ice cream with Irish Cream and bourbon. This flavor has the right balance of ice cream sweetness and the subtle dose of zing that you can expect from Bailey's.

Photo From Udders Website

Photo From Udders Website

Hubby tried Rum Rum Raisin. I sampled a spoonful and it does pack twice as much punch! Their other best seller include Tira-mis-u that comes with brandy and cognac and Orange Choc Bitters that are generously spiced with orange liquers.

Not to worry for the young one's... if you are bringing children, they have classic and premium ice cream flavors without the euphoric inducements. We brought along Kevin and Kyla with us and they get to have their usual strawberry and chocolate ice cream. If you want to enjoy your ice cream in their shop, you can order to have in a crispy waffle cone, sundae style or on top of belgian style waffles.

At night time, Udders come fully alive!
These was taken at 8PM but a few hours from now, the side walk will be
lined with plastic stools and tables for their customers.

note by the blogger: this is not a paid advertisement

Craving for Napoleones

I wrote this blog sometime in August 2010 but never got to post it because I was not to take a picture of my boxful of Napoleones. We devoured it before I realized I need a picture. So here it is... my favorite Pinoy pastry.

The Napoleones pastry was featured on the cover of a food magazine in Philippines. The pastry looked so inviting and heavenly I really had to sink my teeth into one! I realized it wasn't easy finding one in Laguna, being a Bacolod specialty.

Credits: Picture from Foodie Manila

Napoleones is a made from puff pastry with custard filling and topped with white frosting. It comes in small square sizes usually sold in boxes. Napoleones has this crunchy sensation from the layered puff then a soft, creamy and sweet taste from the custard cream filling and sugar glaze. Those who had a taste of napoleones could attest to its mouth watering taste, with just the right creaminess and sweetness.


I read from food blogger Kai  that napoleones possibly was adapted from the napoleon, which is how the French pastry mille-fuille (a thousand leaves) is called outside of France, which in turn is claimed to have originated from Naples in Italy, thus the name. Thus we can surmise that napoleones is indeed a Italian delicacy adopted in Negros. Theory has it that it’s probably introduced by one of the Gaston patriach  who originated from France, married a Filipina and settled in Negros Occidental. This is why authentic napoleones can only be bought and shipped from Negros to Manila.

Back to my napoleones craving...

I had to really hound Mommy J and Geh to death for the next two months or so to help me find napoleones! Finally redemption came when beautiful Geh found napoleones in Roli's which has a booth somewhere in SM Megamall. A box of 12 cost about 200 bucks. Forgive me for my selfishness but since I only get to buy a dozen, I had to save it for the hubby and the kids so we can enjoy them at home. And so despite my 2 cups a day coffee limit, hubby and I decided to indulge with an early evening coffee and relish the sweet, flaky and creamy goodness of napoleones!

Mallow Crunchies

This is another simple recipe for a snack which I found at the back of a pack of marshmallows. Friend Belle gave me a pack of white jumbo marshmallows to take home for the kids. I have a habit of reading any printed matter on any printing medium. So I saw this recipe and tried it one weekend afternoon.

1/4 cup butter
4 cups of marshmallows
pack of cereals

Melt the butter in a cooking pan and add the marshmallows. Make sure you continuously mix it until the marshmallows are molten.  Another variation is to add chocolate chips while mixing the mallows.

Remove from the cooking pan immediately and mix with cereals.

What I did was to prepare ahead of time a big tray with corn flakes spread evenly and poured the molten mallows directly. Then add the remaining cornflakes on top. While the marshmallows are still soft, I transferred it to a rectangular pan.

I found plain corn cereals as the perfect foil to counter the sweetness of the marshmallows. You can also use rice crispies, granola, nuts or other cereals of your choice. You can drizzle choco syrup, add sugar dusting or cinnamon powder on top. I prefer plain cereals to at least keep it a bit on the healthy side.

Let it set for a few minutes before serving. You can cut them into bite-sized squares and put them into muffin liners before serving.

It's a great twist to the usual marshmallows, don't you agree?

An Evening with The Song of India

It's been quite a while since I've had Friday night dinner with friends. There are too much goings-on lately that most of the time I simply prefer to be at home on Fridays and have a lazy evening and midnight munchies with hubby and the kids.

One of my friend Leklek, organized for us a Friday night dinner at The Song of India together with friends from work.

The Song of India is hailed as one of Singapore's Best Fine Dining Restaurants so I you can tell I'm wide-eyed with anticipation. I've been to India twice and I have an appreciation for Indian cuisine so I was looking forward for this experience.

The restaurant which is located along Scotts Road is actually a restored heritage bungalow from the colonial period era that gives an old world ambiance. Our reservations were slated for dinner so the lighting was toned-down. If it is a dinner date for two, it would probably have been romantic. I read in reviews that others may find this a downer. I suppose the place is generally serene but we didn't quite notice this as we were too busy chatting (a bit boisterously we admit) and laughing! I was seated facing the wall so if the other patrons have been glaring at us, I couldn't tell.

Our dinner was a 4-course menu of kebabs artfully presented in degustacion proportions. I am not a heavy eater so the proportion works well for me because you can try a bit of everything. I consider its hint of spice as mild so if you are not a hot-and-spice-person, this should be perfect.

The appetizer was the spiciest for the night.
This is mild to moderate for me though.

This is part 2 of the appetizer fare. Different types of kebabs.

The entree is called the Art Platter Kebab,
served with warm roti which you can dip into the sauce.

The dessert is a mango and ginger ice cream with fruits.
Followed by milk tea.

I also read they have a great wine selection but since of the ladies still have post-dinner plans, we skipped the alcohol. And I am curbing my alcholic tendencies after weeks of hubby's homemade Mojitos which I am using as my excuse for my muffun tops.

The entree was very good. I like the spiciness of the prawn and the lamb was tender. Yes, I do appreciate a good meal of lamb. There were also different sauce-y accompaniments (forgot all their names), one with mushroom, another with lentils. I miss my all time favorite tikka paneer though.

We had different points of view on the dessert of mango and ginger ice cream. It worked for me. It's not very sweet and I am guessing that aside from ginger, some other mild spice must have been infused as well. Dinner was capped by a serving of milk tea. I actually wanted some second helping of the tea too.

And of course, in between are snippets of stories from our-lives-so-far. Life has been too serious lately so it is refreshing to let your hair down (and have an excuse for glamming up).

Indian cuisine at it's finest. As Leklek aptly puts it, it is a night of good food with good friends. 

Simple Greek Salad

I once had to grab a quick lunch and decided to go this take-away Greek salad at Salad Stop. The ingredients look so simple and it's quite easy to replicate this salad so I tried it home with some variations.

Below is the picture of the salad without the final dressing and cheese toppings, for better visualization of the ingredients.



Salad just before I added the Greek Feta Cheese dressing
and Cottage Cheese



I used vegetable fussili pasta to make it more colorful. Then added sliced cucumbers, heirloom and cherry tomatoes, a few olives (can't see them here) and broccoli florets.

I found this bottle of Greek Feta Cheese dressing from Margetti. This dressing is perfect and I didn't have to bother adding more spices to the salad. Add the dressing to the salad mixture and toss. The dressing comes with bits of feta cheese.

You can also add a dash of feta cubes after tossing the salad.  I chosed to instead add 3 tbsp of cottage cheese. You can be as liberal as you like. Chill slightly before serving.

This salad is best paired with grilled pork/steak/salmon in lieu of rice. I also eat it as is for a quick breakfast or snack.

The kids love this as well so it is a great way to also serve vegetarian fare!



Kyla Learned to Bake

 Kyla's school homework for the week involve baking or cooking. They were studying about measurements and procedures and for home learning, they were asked to come up with a procedure on how to cook or bake something with matching illustrations. So we chosed Choco Fudge Brownies. This recipe is quite simple and they will surely love to have something to munch later.

Kyla measured the ingredients while Mom helps and doubles as the photographer.



I asked her to mix the batter herself manually though I kept the mixer for the oil-egg mixture.
She also greased the pan with oil before pouring the batter.

Kyla was beaming with pride while she placed her brownie batch to cool on top of the cork plate. She even showed her this to her Dad and to Kuya Kevin.

All done!!! It was a success!!!



Since we were at it, I decided to also make Spiced Nuts for late night TV snacks. I saw this at Giada De Laurentiis' program at Food Network Asia. These are perfect to pair off with a glass of wine (or beer). Even kids love the sweet-mildly spicy-salty flavor. Kyla volunteered to mix the nuts after I finished dumping the array of spices with sugar and butter.

Then we placed this in a cookie sheet and baked it for about 15-20 minutes. After cooling, I stacked this in one of the glass cookie jars.

Cooking and baking is a great way for children to appreciate food! When I asked her what she learned, this is what Kyla had to say:

1. I learned to follow the instructions.

2. I learned how use the measuring cups.

3. I learned fractions -- you can use two of the 1/3 cup to make 2/3 cup.

4. You have to mix the chocolate in one direction only.

'Til the next bake date!

Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice

Chicken Rice is best known for being the national food of Singapore. Of course, not to be outclassed, the Chili Crab is the national seafood of this island-nation.

I immediately loved Hainanese Chicken Rice. Love at first bite is more like it. The dish is downright simple - steamed or roasted chicken served with rice that has been cooked in tasty chicken broth, with siding of kailan leaves and ginger/soysauce/chili condiment to finish it off. My kids also love Chicken rice!

I learned that one of the famous landmark for Chicken Rice in Singapore is actually a stone's throw from Novena Square Office Towers (where I work) and from where we live. So it is quite downright ridiculous that it took me one year before I can finally savor the original Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice at Novena's Thomson Road.

Why? Because WNK is always packed with customers! The tables are always full and there is almost always a handful of locals and expats waiting in line at any time of the day. At first glance, WNKwill defy expectations -- that is, if you are geared to see a posh and polished, upbeat, airconditioned, dainty dining place in Singapore. It's not. Quite the opposite.

I had the chance to dine at WNK when friends from the Cabuyao Plant visited us last October. We arranged to have dinner with colleagues who have also worked from the same plant and given its proximity to the office, WNK was the place to be. It is a typical small-town, non-airconditioned cafe a la street-style with it's sidewalk dotted with round tables and plastic chairs so you can dine al fresco under the hot Singaporean sun (or humid nights). The roasted chickens are on display. in our country, this place is comparable to what we call as eatery, canteen or carinderia. As in.

I learned that while they are famous for the chicken rice fare, they also serve a variety of local food like deep fried baby squid, carrot cake (which is not a cake), chili crab (yum!), cereal prawns, etc. The chicken rice was divine and so was the sizzling tofu! We ordered whole roasted chicken served into bite sized proportions. I personally like the steamed chicken better because its flavors blend well with the generous condiments. I like to dab a dash of soy sauce and chili sauce and sprinkle bits of ginger onto the chicken.
Interestingly, Wee Nam Kee has a Philippine franchise which opened last year at upbeat Makati City. I saw the pictures of the oriental-themed interiors of WNK Philippines and I could not help but be amazed stark constrast versus the hole-in-the-wall ambience of its mother branch.

When in Singapore, or any other place for that matter, I recommend trying out local food fare from the small towns for that genuine local cultural vibe.

A Taste of KU DE TA

Again, this is the result of watching Food Network Asia channel too much.

The making of KU DE TA (KDT) was featured in the Food Network channel and that sort of piqued my interest. It became a part of our To Do List while in the Red Dot. Hubby and I took the long weekend holiday as an opportunity to have a dinner date!

KU DE TA is located the Sky Park of the illustrious Marina Bay Sands Hotel. The KU DE TA circuit includes a Fine Dining Restaurant, a Club Lounge (I suppose, for the young, the young once and the feeling young) and the Sky Bar perched just on the Sky Park observation deck where you can enjoy the panoramic view of the Singapore cityscape.

The KU DE TA Restaurant boasts of Asian Fusion dishes set in modern Asian interiors. They also have an outdoor setting if you want to dine al-fresco. The restaurant by nightfall is predominantly candlelit for a relaxing and private dining experience.

We arrived at 7:30 pm and the dining hall is already quite busy by then. The staff were very friendly and attentive. Most of them are fellow kababayans. We decided to try their best seller appetizer which is the Crispy-Sticky Baby Squid, paired with Smoked Eggplant with Marinated Salmon Caviar. The baby squid is an elegant version of the hawker-favorite sans the tons of onions and pepper fill-ins. The KDT's version of baby squid has the same crispiness but with a tinge of what I thought was caramel. The smoked eggplant reminds me of my dad's invention from many years ago, on this time the Salmon caviar sits on top of the veggie for that gourmet effect.

For the mains we went for the Bamboo Roasted Pacific Black Cod with Whipped Red Miso and Berkshire Pork Belly Steamed with Shaoxing Wine. The fish was really divine! I can tell that the cod was steamed, the flesh was so soft but the skin and sides were seared. The red miso did I'd say the pork belly was just ok but not exactly unforgettable. I did fear for our cholesterol level so we decided to skip the lobster. We had a carafe of white Sangria to complete the dinner.

I was very full and satisfied by the end of dinner but I sure have some space for dessert: Green Tea and Pistachio Slice. Its a basic cake topped with green tea flavored cream frosting dotted with pistachio nuts, smothered with jam and caramel slivers.

Overall I'd say it was an enjoyable dinner. We would love to come back to KU DE TA to celebrate. I saw a family with kids and I thought that we could bring the kids next time. Though meant to be a fine dining experience, the ambience is relaxed, chatty and exuberant!

Chef for a Day

Children were in for a culinary surprise at the United Square Mall (the one that is a stone's throw from where we live). The United Square in Novena is dubbed as "The Kids' Mall" -- they house several outlets for famous brands of infants' and children's apparel and shoes - which I would say is more than what you will find in the bigger malls. There is also a branch of Toys R Us and Early Learning Center (ELC) in this mall. ELC boasts of unique line up of toys and books.

Everysooften, United Square sponsors learning events for kids. This month, they sponsored a Children's Cook Out at the Atrium where kids can learn great things about nutrition, good table manners and of course, experience being a chef!

There are four stations that you can choose from -- Japanese Bento, Oriental Mooncakes, Pizzeria and Kaya Jam. The food they will be preparing were all very creative renditions suitable for kids' consumption.

They also get to have a nutrition and health tour before going into culinary action!

Here are snippets of the Cookout...


Chef Kyla having a great time at the Pizzeria Station



It's a great idea to jump start kids on simple cooking

Preparing for the Cookfest

The first stop is the food pyramid

Height and weight measurement for the BMI charts



Kids also learned table setting, good manners and get to do hand-on for napkin folding



Getting started!

Kyla worked independently on her pizza

 

Kids received goodie bags from sponsors and a certificate

The best part-- Kyla shares her Pizza with Kuya Kevin

Kyla took home her pizza creation and gave the half for her brother, Pizza being his favorite food. It's a wonderful way to end the day!