Singapore, lah!

I have been waiting all summer for our trip to Singapore!

Where We Stayed - Royal Plaza on Scotts (http://www.royalplaza.com.sg/) 

We were choosing between Marina Bay Sands and a Resorts World Hotel in Sentosa, but we decided to go with Royal Plaza because of it’s convenient location - a hop, skip and a jump to Orchard Road’s shopping malls (where I assumed I would be spending most of my time). It was also a stone’s throw away from the Orchard MRT station, which was perfect since I was told that getting a cab during rush hour would be close to impossible.

Being a java junkie, I was excited to see a 24 hour Starbucks right outside our hotel(Starbucks Pacific Plaza, #9 Scotts Road), but was beyond thrilled to find a Nespresso machine (http://www.nespresso.com/) with unlimited espresso in our hotel room! (I’m very easy to please!)

Where We Ate

Our first meal was at Todai Restaurant at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands (http://www.todaisingapore.com/) We love eating at Todai because of their overflowing supply of ginormous snow crab. 

While we tried kaya toast and soft boiled eggs for breakfast, our boys were clamoring for a McDonald’s Big Breakfast the very next day. (Sometimes all it takes to keep them pacified are those Golden Arches! No judging!)

Of course we had to eat at Din Tai Fung at the Raffles City Shopping Centre. The boys wolfed down the Xiao Long Bao so fast, it’s a wonder no one burned their tongue.

I would have to say my favorite meal in Singapore was at the Newton Food Centre hawker’s market. The food centre was promoted by the Singapore Tourism Board as a tourist attraction for sampling Singaporean cuisine, so it is a bit of a tourist trap - but the satay and the barbeque crab was so good i forgot to take pictures!

Where We Went

My three boys could care less about shopping - unless they’re hitting the huge Toys ‘R Us at Vivio City, so Universal Studios was the main attraction for us. I also couldn’t wait to get to the park since the last time we were at a Universal I was pregnant and couldn’t ride anything fun.

Our timing couldn’t have been more OFF though since the park lines were beyond loooooong. Our wait per attraction averaged 45-110 minutes. Not fun at all, especially in the Singapore heat! But the boys had fun regardless, and I was secretly thankful for the long lines since after seeing the Battlestar Galactica roller coaster I decided that I didn’t need to ride anything “fun” anymore.

There was much more to see and do, but 4 days and 3 nights with 3 boys and a grandma (my mom will kill me for pointing the finger at her) is just too little time and too much chaos.  I guess our next trip to Singapore has to be when the weather is cooler (not by much, I’m told) and when we have more time.

My Best Buy

While I so did not get my shopping on in Singapore, my favorite buy is Garrett Gourmet Popcorn’s (http://www.garrettpopcorn.com/) jumbo bag of Chicago Mix. This has been on Oprah’s list of favorite things every year, and you guys know I love all things Oprah!A delectably sinful mix of cheese and caramel (yes, you read that right!) popcorn that becomes a party in your mouth! (I dedicate my weight gain to Bolso Buddy Kimmy Coseteng-Flaviano for her must-try suggestion ;p)

Ok, looking back on this entry I see that my longest comments are always about the food. And while I’m not too hot about the term “foodie” -  what can I say?! Some people eat to live, I obviously LIVE TO EAT!!! - KGG

Half-Cooked

The kitchen is one of my happy places. I love staying there all afternoon reading my collection of cookbooks, chopping, dicing, measuring, mixing, sauteing, frying, baking...everything! I enjoy making things from scratch. I simply do not like the whole 30-minute meals concept, sorry Rachel Ray.

I remember I met this girl and we started talking about how we were in charge of Thanksgiving desserts for our respective family gatherings. She challenged me by saying she was going to make her signature pumpkin pie which was to-die-for! I have been trying to be as zen as possible, but sometimes, the competitive girl in me just kicks in. So, I nonchalantly said I’m making pumpkin pie AND pecan pie. The poor girl made the mistake of asking what brand pie crust I use, to which I replied as sweetly as I could, “I make my own pie crust, don’t you?” (hee!hee!)

This being said, there are times when a girl has to do what a girl has to do, so here are some of my favorite half-cooked/half-bought recipes. We all have to have a few of these up our sleeves for those “just in case” moments.

Arugula Salad with Smoked Salmon and Manchego

Luckily, there’s a Santis Deli 5 minutes from our place. This is my go-to store when I want to impress and whip up something a little fancy.

1 large pack of arugula (my S.I.L. is not a big fan, so sometimes I’ll get a bag of their mesclun salad or just their romaine lettuce...so fresh!)

Smoked salmon (I love love love this, so I usually get more than necessary)

Manchego or whatever cheese your prefer (You can have them slice it up for you already...of course, parmesan slivers - not grated - are quite nice, too!)

Caesar salad dressing (Toscana is the best store bought dressing ever!)

Toss your greens. Top it off with the smoked salmon and manchego. Leave the dressing on the side. 

* You can serve any extra smoked salmon with lemon, dill and capers.

Arroz a la Cocina 

(Yes, it should be Cubana, but this is something I put together in my primo's house when I decided to make use of what they had in the kitchen instead of getting take-out.)

Ground Beef 

1 packet of Taco Seasoning (I like to use McCormick’s - with this I no longer find the need to season with salt and pepper)

Onions

Garlic
Olive Oil

1 can of Button Mushrooms

1 can of Baby/Young Corn

Raisins

Green Onions 

Bananas

Eggs

Rice

Chop up the baby corn and button mushrooms.

Brown the garlic and onions in a large pan in some olive oil. Add the ground beef and continue to cook. Add the taco seasoning. Add in the chopped baby corn, button mushrooms and raisins. 

Fry the bananas and eggs. Chop up green onions.

Plate your dish. Get a big platter and put the rice. Place the ground beef on top of the rice. Around the dish, layer the bananas. Fried eggs will be on top of the ground beef. Garnish with green onions. 

Baked Sole with Garlic Butter Sauce

This is perfect for when you're running late and need to come up with dinner pronto! 


Fillet of sole (you can use whatever fish you like really)

Lemon

Butter

Capers

Garlic 

Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil

Season the sole with salt and pepper. Squeeze the lemon and drizzle olive oil. Let marinate for a while. Sprinkle capers on top of the sole.

Bake at 300 C. Sole is very thin, so it cooks quite quickly, no need to turn the dish or the fish or anything. Just peak every so often.

Make the sauce. Melt butter. Fry garlic. Add some olive oil. Serve on the side. (This sauce is a staple at our family table, the vampires will definitely be staying away.)

Mango Icebox Cake

Something BFF Paulyn and I made one afternoon in her lovely Florida home.


Graham Crackers

Whipped Cream or All-Purpose Cream (you can add a little bit of cinnamon, I'm not a big fan of it though)

Mangoes
* Nutella 

Just layer graham crackers, cream, mangoes again and again. Freeze and voila!!! Homemade dessert.

* Drizzling Nutella on top of the cream would make it so much more heavenly!


My Sissy cooks, I bake. I watch her in the kitchen and I am always totally blown away. Unlike me, she almost always just wings it. Imagine she was able to make pizzas (from scratch!) with my nephews and nieces in Tagaytay one afternoon with only what we had in our pantry! So the above recipes are my attempt to let loose in the kitchen and improvise. It’s all a matter of taste, so have fun with it. In the end,  if worse comes to worst...presentation counts for something, bring out the candles and the flowers... - KAB

Eat Well & Exercise Effectively

As a freelance performing artist that balances crazy schedules from time to time, I know firsthand how hard it is to find time to take care of yourself. Often, we don’t realize that taking care of ourselves is one of the best things we can do not only for ourselves, but also for the people we love. We ALL have the power to EAT WELL, EXERCISE EFFECTIVEY and make these a permanent part of our lives. No matter what fitness level we may currently be in, we can all start taking those baby steps that’ll take our bodies towards a healthy, active life—for the rest of our lives! 

Simply put… If we consistently burn all the calories we consume in the course of a day, we will maintain our weight but, if we consume more calories than we expend, we will gain weight. So, any effective weight loss program needs to include these—a plan for SENSIBLE EATING and a plan for SENSIBLE EXERCISE. 

I’m no food expert, nor am I a fitness guru. I see myself as a “work in progress”, picking up helpful things from the things I read, chance upon on the net or learn from people around me. With that said, here is a simple guide I came up with that I think will help a lot of us in our journey to eating and exercising better:

SENSIBLE EATING: Develop and maintain a healthy, balanced nutritional routine. The basics are making healthy food choices and developing healthy eating habits.

• Balance Food Choices by eating a diet that includes a healthy assortment of carbs, fats and proteins. Be sure to to choose the right kinds of carbs like whole grain breads, beans, pasta, vegetables and fruits.
• Choose Good Fats and use monounsaturated oils like olive, peanut and canola when preparing your meals.
• Eat Less Animal Protein as people tend to eat more animal protein than their body actually needs. Substitute vegetable protein found in vegetables, seeds, grains, legumes and soy products for animal protein in your diet, and consider eating more fish.
• Eat Simple Foods which nature created as beneficial to health in their purest form  and avoid foods that are canned, processed or refined, and those that contain additives and preservatives.
• Drink Plenty Of Water, drinking 6-8 glasses of water and other fluids daily like caffeine-free teas, mineral water and plain or sparkling water favored with a little fruit juice.
• Manage Hunger and avoid waiting until you’re starving to eat because this increases the chance of overeating and making bad food choices. Studies show that having several smaller meals a day works better than having a few larger meals.
• Allow Time To Digest, eating your meals in a relaxing environment, without external distractions. This enhances your body’s ability to digest and metabolize food effectively.

SENSIBLE EXERCISE: For those who haven’t been exercising regularly for quite some time now you might want to gradually “break yourselves in” by doing movements of the easiest, most effective exercise there is: Walking! 

Walking is a workout you can do anytime, day or night. Its low-impact movements are nothing too fancy or complicated. Walking lets you burn calories and help you lose weight in a safe, effective way, if you get moving and start walking you can:

• Lower your risk for heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and colon cancer.
• Improve your mood and help relieve insomnia.
• Maintain bone density and help prevent osteoporosis.

As you know, nothing happens overnight… The idea is to Start Slowly and get you moving by walking, Boost Energy gradually to build endurance then start checking different workout programs until you feel that you’ve found the ones that are best suited for you. You can then Mix And Match routines, incorporating different exercise types you enjoy and customize/plan your weekly workout schedule. Don’t forget to Take Time To Stretch before and after your workout and when you’re ready, you can look into Adding Weights for the added benefits of strength training. Remember, doing too much too soon can cause injury or frustration and end up being counter-productive so find your pace and slowly start burning those calories so you can be on your way to a healthier lifestyle.

Believe that by eating well and exercising effectively we can all start losing weight and more importantly, improve our health one day at a time! -JJV

* Photos from healthychildblog.com, saidaonline.com