Thursday, July 29, 2010

Lucille's Fashion Week

My little sister-in-law, Lucille is whom I have to turn to in the morning when I have "what-to-wear-crisis". When I hastily put something on without much thought and enter the office, she gives me a look from head to toe and shakes her head in disappointment. At this point, I have to go upstairs and change. When she finally gives me the nod, I feel much better about myself and confident that I won't look stupid when I walk into Peninsula and meet my clients.

In her computer, all her bookmarks are about fashion. Blog sites on shoes, bags, clothing and of course, gossip. She thrives in this that I often see OK Magazine in her table. I just borrow after she's done with it.

Anyway, Lucille as some of you might know is not much of a talker. She is very demure, gentle and yes, very quiet. But when it comes to designing, she blossoms and amazes us and her clients on her creativity. Her passion for everything funky but yet classy shows in her creations and her clothing.

I decided to document her get up for 7 days just to show you her style and how she glams up simple clothing into fashion magazine worthy.









Oh diba? KLAZZZ!!!

Marks & Spencer Yummy Treats!

Three years ago, I would have never thought of shopping at Marks & Spencer for snacks or anything edible. I used to shop with my former mother-in-law there. She would treat us to clothes and I was so happy about it because at that time, 15 years ago, I thought they were quite pricey.

But now there are delightful Treats at Marks & Spencer! Marks & Spencer is already known for its sumptuous chocolates and biscuits; still they aim to indulge your taste buds even more. A selection of bakery delicacies is being offered in stores, from muffins to tubs of sweet pleasures.

Caramel Cracklepops- Chocolate covered nuggets of
chewy, caramel-drenched rice puffs!


Extremely Chocolatey Sponge Roll
A light chocolate sponge rolled with a rich indulgent chocolate buttercream and
entirely coated in a crisp thick chocolate. Extremely Chocolatey!

Four Blueberry Muffins -Moist and fluffy muffins loaded
with the sweetest, juiciest blueberries to add a lovely fruity burst to every bite.

Flapjacks - Squares of gorgeously chewy, golden syrupy
oat flapjack “GET YOUR OATS”


Eight Extremely Chocolatey Mini Muffins - Not too big,
rich or indulgent… just perfectly moist with a lovely balance of creamy milk chocolate and rich dark chocolate

Available in your favorite M & S stores!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Tree Planting Sponsors.


To the people who made it all happen. You are so gracious and caring that I just want to give you all a big hug and a juicy kiss. Ok, maybe not juicy but full on lips to cheek.

Thank you so much for supporting my tree planting project. You are heaven sent and the future generations will truly benefit from your kindness and generosity.

Planet Earth deserves more people like you.

Zarah Hernaez, for allotting the land, seedlings and details about tree planting. Ayala is very lucky to have someone like you onboard.
Betcha Chua-Javier, without you, we would have taken many cars. Your comfortable, clean and beautiful bus lessened the carbon footprint and your sponsoring this event shows that your bus company, JAC LINER, cares about our environment.
Aji Tan, a big hug for the ECOBAGS from Healthy Options. You pulled thru even if it was last minute. Thank you.
Joel Nunez, for helping me get last minute sponsorship by Hawaiin Tropic care of Marilen Nunez of Len Plus and Emily Rose Boaquina Besavilla of RUSTAN Marketing Corp.
Cristina Chua-Limsin, your sweet goodies were a delicious treat to everyone that needed sugar rush after 4 hours of tree planting.
Debbie Sy, SM Hypermart, SM Foundation, what can I say? You gave me the SUPER VVIP tickets to watch Al Gore, which is why I started this project in the first place. Without you, the Earth would be less 1000 trees. You provided food good for 100 people. We served corned beef, rice and eggs for breakfast. The ham and cheese and tuna sandwiches were snacks after planting the seedlings. You always support my projects and I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Rowena Chang, another strong force in my projects. You donated blankets, clothes, diapers and bottles for the Fabella babies and even if I didn't ask for your help, you reached out and donated 100 bottles of water because you know we would need it. SALAMAT!!!
Rob and Sunshine Pengson. Not only do you make me happy with your food at The Goose Station, which I will have for tonight, you also make me happy to know that you care about our planet. Thank you for donating 100 bottles of Fit and Right. The empty bottles are now being worked on by a friend who will show us what we can do to recycle plastic bottles. (More on that later.)

Ginny, my sister-in-law, who organized the grocery shopping and food preparations with our house staff. Imagine what I would have done if you weren't there? I think we make a good team. Thank you for taking care of me. I love you.
And to our house staff. Rovy, Minda, Manang, Ga, Rico, Domeng, Teddy, Terry, Me-An and Myra, MARAMING SALAMAT PO.

More on this event soon.

Ice Cream, The Paseo Way.

I have never seen this dessert prepared this way. I have tried all sorts of ice cream places and stations but this one is the best for me. I can have it with whatever toppings I want plus, I am totally entertained while they prepare it for me.

Paseo of Mandarin Oriental, you continue to amaze me.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

King of Grill, Chef Robert Rainford.



When I first read that the King of Grill will be in the country, I was so excited. I learned about him when my brother, Cedric would watch his show LICENSE TO GRILL. He has this charm and charisma in front of the camera that makes you just sit there and watch him grill to perfection all sorts of things. After his show, all I can hear are stomach growling with hunger. That's what I like about Chef Rainford's style. He has the ability to stimulate your appetite thru the tube. I can actually smell what he has on the griller. That is what makes him such a success and effective TV personality. He connects to his viewers. He has a direct line to my hunger pang.

But let me tell you something first, when I came home to spread the news, I came into the door, told my girls,

ME: Guess who's coming to town!
J and J: WHO!!?? (Obviously caught my excitement)
ME: ROBERT REDFORD!!!!
J and J: Eh??? Who's that???
ME: WHO'S THAT? Gosh girls, you need to be updated in other things too besides the Jonas Brothers!!
J and J: But we don't know him! Is he someone from the 80's again??
ME: Robert Redford, the CHEF! That guy from License to Grill!!! (rolling my eyes)
Jody: Mom, don't you mean Robert Rainford???
ME: Get out of my room, you are grounded....


Of course she is right and I was wrong. It's one of my blonde moments???

Anyway, Chef Robert RAINFORD dazzled us in Mandarin Oriental's PASEO last Sunday with his grilling skills and easy to follow recipe. A little bit of this and a lot of that. All too easy he says. You just have to find what suits your palate. He likes it super hot and spicy as he adds all sorts of pepper, chili and red things in his marinade. He talked with so much ease and you can tell that he enjoys what he does.

I can only smell the chicken and pork he put on the grill and tried my best to keep my stomach silent. I have a reputation for making super loud growling sounds when my stomach wants something. And I wanted to EAT!
My family, his fans. We were very happy campers.

During my one-on-one with the Chef, I asked him if he uses moisturizer. I just saw that he had smooth and healthy skin. And with all the sun exposure, the smoke from the grill and the stress of being on TV, I wanted to know how he takes care of himself.

His answers are in green.

My wife gives me all that stuff for my face. I don't know what brand. But yes, she takes care of me.

I ask about his clothing sense. What he wears when he's not in his chef uniform.

Just jeans and custom made shirts by a very talented man, Marlon Durrant.

If my brother wanted to have a kitchen just like yours, what would he have to sell besides his children?

Lynx grill


or
Weber.


or
Napoleon Grills


But remember, it's not about the brand of your griller, it's the way you grill. You have to learn the correct way to do it. Use the right amount of heat. This is the most important part of grilling.

What do you think of Iron Chef?

Love it! Want to be in it so bad.

Who do you want to go against with?

Anybody there. One hour of making 4 to 5 dishes. It's a challenge but it seems like a lot of fun. And the who knows, the mystery ingredient might not be a mystery to me. I might have already worked with it a few times so who knows. We do this everyday, cook and challenge ourselves to do better. We just gotta get the work done.

Out of the blue, I asked, "What's the brand of your shoes?"

KM SHoes

I don't believe in wearing Crocs while cooking. I don't want to wear rubber. It's not safe when I grill.

And how do you like the Philippines? BE HONEST!! Have you been outside Manila?


I really love it. This is my second time and out of 3 Asian countries that I have been too, I would say Philippines is my favorite. Unfortunately, I have not been outside Manila but I would love to.

I stood up, had a photo opt and left the room with a smile. I like him. He's really nice.

To Erika Aquino of Mandarin Oriental, THANK YOU for giving me this chance to be part of this special event.

Now, the good part, THE FOOD he grilled right in front of our eyes! I LOVED IT!!! Oh no, my stomach is growling again.




To AFC, thank you for the goodies! They are so cute and useful! Love them to bits because I am really an AFC fan.


What's with my hair? Ugh!!!




Monday, July 26, 2010

Ruffa's Precious Lorin Turns 7.

Now, just because I haven't blogged in Candifier does not mean I haven't been blogging. You must also check out juldizon because I am posting stories there too.

But I don't want to neglect Candifier so here goes.


Yesterday was Ruffa's daughter, Lorin's 7th Birthday and boy did it ROCK!

Party Perks did an amazing job with the decor, party favors and entertainment. There were celebrity moms and dads with their babies dressed up as rock stars, as that was the theme of the party.

The birthday girl is just too cute for words. Ruffa did incredibly in raising such lovely girls. Happy Birthday Lorin!!!

Ok ok...I know you don't care about the details. Anyway, the photos says it all. ENJOY!












Choose your own candy, scoop it up, pack it yourself and take it home. It was heaven for all kids and even adults. I didn't want to share mine.


The Rock Stars and your bloggerina.















Don't think I forgot about Venice. She sang a song and I recorded it just for you. (I forgot that I couldn't use my camera sideways but I corrected it after a few seconds. Sorry about that.)