spiCes

Happy nth! birthday again to my dear M. we did not do much on a supposedly very special milestone in one’s lifetime. o alam nyo na ang edad nya? life begins nga! hee!
bakit? overtime! ang lolo ninyo! sabado, which was his exact birthday, at maging noong linggo. pero ayos lang. sa panahon ngayon, wala tayong karapatang magreklamo, ika nga.

kaya dito kami nauwi…nanginain sa isang malapit na restoran na matagal na naming minamataan. A Cantonese-Polynesian Restaurant in the city.

Great food…love the peking duck combo platter! it has everything under it too! prawns, beef, mushrooms, carrots, water chestnuts, french beans. even the kids loved their chicken teriyaki, cheese roll and pork ribs platter! friendly and prompt service, fairly priced and according to my kids…it’s like a hotel inside. must be the glimmering mini chandeliers and the smell. the smell of clean, if i may say so. we are definitely coming back.

The Cathay Pacific Restaurant
111 Hancock St
North Quincy, MA 02171
(617) 328-1115

Lahok para sa na may temang…Lahat ay Payak. Btw, the day ended up with a surprise home-made coffee and walnut birthday cake! Sorry, the cake photos aren’t as good due to poor lighting and let’s-get-this-over-and-done-with-moment photo shoot. sheesh!

…it was a very simple family bonding time, as they say. we spent the weekend registering the kids for their summer activities. S will do cheerleading and C is trying his hand on karate. i’m really happy for them that they are starting to like sports and recreation now, which they haven’t had the chance to do back in New York.

we also had another stroll and of course photo ops at the nearby beach and had lunch at Tony’s Clamshoppe. Not particularly happy with what i ate but it’s the view and the perfect weather that made up for it.

of course it was a no cooking weekend for me…this one was prepared by M for our pre-mother’s day dinner. lobsters, clams and shrimp platter. delicious!

…for our Sunday lunch we tried the newly opened Chinese Restaurant around the area and this is one of the good food we had…spareribs in white wine, or something like that. it was a relief to find an english translation on the menu as i was cautioned by my neighbor Stel beforehand that they didn’t have english menus, yet. but that the food was great. it was! for less than 30 bucks, we had our fill and some to-go’s too :0 defintely coming back in that joint. i just cannot decipher the name at the moment.
Now, I am dreaming of bright and fun family cruises if only we can afford it right now.
An entry to a not so wordless .

…something we look forward to whenever we go on a fine[r] dining spree during a special occasion [or not] such as this day in a mini celebration for C’s first communion…the bread and butter at the start of the meal. more specifically, this pumpernickel bread at the Cheesecake Factory. we are bread lovers, what can i say? kicking off the rest of the whole luncheon.

Tinapay palang, busog ka na! ika nga:) pero syempre sa gutom namin heto naman ang mga sumunod naming kinain…

at heto pa para naman sa main course…

HERB CRUSTED FILET OF SALMON
Fresh Salmon with a Delicious Lemon Sauce, Asparagus
and Mashed Potatoes

…and yes, after these…there was no more room for dessert. no cheesecake this time, which was fine.

Lahok para sa na may temang…SIMULA pa lamang/START[ers] or Beginning.

This Sunday is revolving around dining in style and taste with higher quality materials like white linens, fine china, crystal wine glasses, candle lights, wait staffs in formal attire and of course glorious food. In this manner, we give special attention to ambience.  On another note, fine dining is also highly associated with full course meals. This would include bite size fruits for starters, appetizers, soup, salad, the entree served with rice or bread and vegetables to dessert served with tea or coffee and lastly some cookies or nuts served with another drink.

As I have googled, there is no definitive meaning of the words FINE DINING. It is subjective as they say, depending on personal taste and can be guided by the quality of food, service and atmosphere. I cannot find any specific guideline regarding this. Hence, I am leaving it all up to you to help me come up with a more accurate description.

I myself, found it a little difficult to post my own photo, so I borrowed the first 2 from my sister, taken during her wedding. The fact that we rarely go to fine dining restaurants nowadays make up for this inadequacy. I am positive that most of you will agree with me that these would be over the top excessiveness and beyond reason if done on a whim during this dwindling economy. That doesn’t mean we cannot have one though. What we normally have are special nights of fine dining experience in the comfort of our own home such as this last photo. Once I am in the mood for making out of the ordinary meals, not necessarily luxurious, what follows is a nicely done tablescape wherein my finer china and wine glasses, add to that the silver chargers come into good use…as opposed to everyday plastic or paper plates and cups!

I do wish you all a fine Sunday and week ahead! Cheers!
is a weekly thematic FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY meme, Pinoy style!

…i was half anticipating the possibility of going on a date for Vday because i knew all along that the kids are invited to a swimming party that day. that said, i also knew that the protective mom in me cannot just let them swim by themselves. so we stayed.
until it was time for them to play games in the gym and eat. that’s a good couple of hours more to ourselves.

[kaya dito kami napadpad sa Outback Steakhouse, hindi kalayuan sa lugar kung saan ginanap ang party ng mga bata.]

…and we can’t help but order steaks! opkors:) at syempre pa, hindi matatapos ang tipanan na ito ng walang???…

DESSERT! matamis na dessert!

We still had less than half an hour until it’s time to pick up the kids, enough time to order a slice of Raspberry Cheesecake.
so there goes the slight chance that we got away even for a little while… a good couple of hours.

[pasensya na at sa sobrang excitement sa matamis na ito, hayan...blurry ang kuha, hehe. sarap eh!]

An entry to , na may temang…TIPANAN. DATE or dating place as this week’s theme…for a while there i thought i won’t have an entry. you know very well that DATES when you have little kids here in the US and some, are very PRECIOUS! and rare! something to be thankful for! and another thing to be thankful for are facial kits for microdermabrasion, when you need instant rejuvination when going on a date such as this!:)…
[kaya sisiguraduhin kong maging kaibigan ng mga bata ang nagdiwang ng kaarawan ng matagal tagal na panahon, sa gayon...tuwing araw ng mga PUSO, siguradong makakatakas kami! nyahahaha!!!]

IMAGINING…

SKY BLUE
…this afternoon while waiting for the kids get out of school, i was wishful thinking…if only we can eat at Applebee’s and then i will have an entry for Litratong Pinoy at the same time gobble up on my fave drink.
[nag-dilang anghel yata ako kaninang hapon nang maisip kong mag-hapunan sa Applebee's.]

the INEVITABLE…

NAVY BLUE
…as luck would have it, our tuesday ihop tradition twisted a bit when M suggested, well whadayaknow! Applebee’s!
[ang swerte nga naman! hehe!]

THE EDIBLE [drinkable?]

AQUA BLUE
after ages…i’ve had a few sips [yes, just a few since i only finished half of the tall glass!] of this BLUE MARGARITA! perfect! just perfect…even if my battery conked out on me after just a couple of shots!
[lashing pa ata ako hanggang ngayon! mwahahaha! sa ngalan ng LP!]

…an entry for …btw, can you find me in one of the photos? hehe!

….dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. pic above is S’s Tuxedo Cheesecake while I had a slice of Tiramisu Cheesecake..devoured before remembering to take a snap! a little late, like a week late being posted but it’s never too late to greet and thank M for a very Happy and blissful 13 years of marital bliss! mwah! Cheesecake is fab at the factory, still… i am not as impressed with the entrees, as ever. now that i’ve had almost 2 slices of this, diet pills wouldn’t hurt! haha! add to that all the sweets and carbs that we’ve had during Christmas!