Sunday, January 25, 2009

Unexpected Birthday Spa Party

I tremendously enjoyed my birthday this year. One of my most memorable birthdays to date. I celebrated my day with the people I hold close to my heart and love the most.
What made the day more special was that we were able to attend mass as a whole family.

Our original plan was just to have brunch at Sonya's Garden but the night before my birthday I learned that mama wanted to avail some of the spa services offered. I quickly called Sonya's if they could still accommodate reservations for their spa and if we could move our brunch reservation to a late lunch. They were able to accommodate our late night reservation and make some adjustments.

The day of my birthday.

We started the day early with a mass at Pink Sisters’ Convent. We arrived just in time for the morning mass. It was quite noticeable that there were a lot of people this particular Sunday. It was comforting to know that they have extra chairs provided for those who won't be able to get inside the church.

We were expecting the cold climate but we were still surprised on how actually cold it was. The cold climate was even magnified with sudden surges of strong winds. I was already wearing a long-sleeved shirt plus a hoodie and I was still feeling cold. Some of my cousins forgot their jackets and wore regular t-shirts ...brRRrrr...

After the mass we purchased some souvenirs, cloistered cookies and on our way out we bought boiled peanuts. We all wondering how they got the peanuts to taste like smoked bacon. As much as I wanted to eat more smoked bacon peanuts cause it tasted real good but I didn't want to spoil our lunch buffet at Sonya's Garden.



We scheduled to have our spa at 10 am, arriving just in time. We divided into two groups the first group were the one who are availing of the spa services while the other chose just to hang around and raid the paninderia for the freshly baked breads. Mama, tita and my cousins were quite busy selecting in the spa menu which service to pick. My sister and I had already selected in advance and we both chose "Foot Scrub Indulgence". Mama and Tita chose "Traditional Hilot", Jc and Ate Rose chose "Sonya's Signature Massage" and Ate Jen chose "Foot Spa with back Massage".

All of us stayed in one cottage with individual private areas for those who availed of full body services. At first we were all engaged in conversation updates on what happening, reminiscing and laughing a lot. After a few more minutes the room was in complete silence "a good sign" that everyone is already relaxing or sleeping.

It was delight to see the smiling faces of my cousins and mama after their each respective spa sessions. They looked relax and refreshed while sipping their hot dalandan tea (a must try).

Sonya's Lunch/Dinner Buffet was the highlight of the day. We were all seated in a long table and it was quite obvious that everyone was already hungry. We were served green salad with Sonya's Secret Dressing, bread with an array of homemade dips, Pasta 2 sauces with different toppings, Dessert sweet potato, chocolate cake and bannarolls (mini turon) and bottomless dalandan juice.

We also ordered their roast chicken for those who aren't veggie fans (yaya, nieces and my lil bro).

To be honest, if not for the fixed menu I wouldn't mind just eating the Salad and Bread. Cause by the time we had Pasta I was already full.

A few years back, I've always read reviews about Sonya's Garden and often wondered what was all the fuss about. But now that I have celebrated my birthday with them it was an unexpected most memorable birthdays to date. The ambiance, excellent quality spa services and the sit down buffet entices people to relax, talk and bond with their respective loved ones and just enjoy each others company. I recommend families who wish to just get out of the busy manila life and enjoy the activities they can do together at Sonya's Garden.


Sonya's Garden

Barangay Buck Estate, Alfonso, Cavite, Philippines
(near the vicinity of Tagaytay City, Philippines)
For reservations:
call or text +63-9175329097 or +63-9175335140
http://www.sonyasgarden.com/

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t-na @ 11:50 AM| 2 comments

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Takoyaki


Years back, my first encounter with a takoyaki was at a small stall located at SM foodcourt. My sister bought these little seafood balls covered with some sort of sweet sour sauce and drizzled with mayonnaise. EEewWw... was my initial reaction.
Mini-trivia about t-na:
I don't like mayonnaise or to be more specific I don't like the after taste if I chase it down with plain water. The after taste of mayonnaise blehhuck! So in the event that I do eat something with mayo I have to have sweet tea or juice.
Whenever they came home from SM they kept taking home takoyaki. One day I just finally gave in to my curiosity. It was like squid ball but the center is soft and it has a small chunk of octopus. At first it was just okay... its edible. Then suddenly I found myself asking my siblings to buy me some takoyaki if they go to SM. After sometime the Takoyaki booth was closed down and we never ate takoyaki... till this year.

Just a few months ago, out of nowhere my sister and I wanted to eat takoyaki. We saw a booth at festival mall but it wasn't as good as the last time we ate ( a couple of years back).

We decided to make our own Takoyaki. The hardest part was finding a Takoyaki Pan which we had to special order from a family friend. For the sauce, I made our own Sweet and Sour Sauce and we bought Japanese Mayonnaise (it makes a big difference instead of using plain mayo).

I found a recipe at Youtube. The dog host of the cooking show is absolutely entertaining.


How to Make Takoyaki (Japanese Octopus Dumpling Balls)


- Takoyaki Batter -
1 Egg
340ml Icy Water (1.437 u.s. cup)
1/2 tsp Granulated Dashi (1/4 tsp Kombu Dashi & 1/4 tsp Bonito Dashi)
1 tsp Soy Sauce
A Pinch of Salt
100g Soft Wheat Flour (3.527 oz)

150g Boiled Octopus (5 1/3 oz)
1/2 cup Tenkasu - crunchy bits of deep fried flour-dough
6g Beni Shoga - Pickled Ginger (1/5 oz)
2g Sakuraebi - Dried Pink Baby Shrimps (1/10 oz)

Okonomiyaki Sauce
Aonori - Green Laver
Hanakatsuo - Dried Bonito Flakes
2 Long Green Onions
Mayonnaise

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t-na @ 9:20 PM| 0 comments

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Rare Occurrence in the Kitchen

Last Sunday my mom prepared a simple dish for dinner, baked fish fillet in between layers of tomatoes, olives, onions and capers. With her busy schedule she rarely cooks at home, unless my Dad is around. She was enthusiastic to cook this particular dish that she got from a friend, who served this dish in one of the meetings she attended. It was quite refreshing since I usually grill or pan fry my fish. The fish was soft and tender, the olives and capers complimented the delicate fish. I added freshly squeezed lemon juice and it was hmmm... delish! Whether fried or grilled I always liked an extra punch of calamansi or lemon juice.

Just this afternoon my mom came home with a bag of groceries. She walked pass me as I doodle in front of the computer. After 30 mins or so my tita asked me if I'd like to eat spaghetti, and I said "Yum! Spaghetti, Nagluto ka pala?" then she replied "Hindi si Mama mo nagluto". I was idle for a couple of seconds and *ping* I rushed in the dinning table and found wholewheat spaghetti with sliced bavarian cheese smokies and tomato sauce. It wasn't the usual spaghetti we have or cook, this was the first time I ate wholewheat spaghetti pasta. It was good especially the sauce but I have to get used to the wholewheat thing.

Mama and her little rare gestures really makes me appreciate her more.

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t-na @ 9:47 PM| 0 comments

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Busy... busy... busy...

It's been a yearly routine as soon as the 2nd week of December kicks in I'm busy busy busy. On my list: decorating the house, planning, cooking for my 2 siblings birthday, Christmas and New Year Feast. For my sisters' birthday she requested Korean Chap Chae. For my brothers' birthday Shrimp Tempura and Calamares. From time to time I'm usually requested to cook certain dishes for parties and functions my mom attends to.

Last 20th was my moms' company party and again I was requested to cook my special Pancit Molo. I had to prepare and individually wrap a 8 packs of molo wrapper, a pack is estimated to have 100 sheets.

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t-na @ 2:02 PM| 0 comments

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

LTO and Hanakazu Dissapointment

The day started early with a visit to an LTO office. My drivers' license is due for renewal, which only meant that my b-day is coming up. I spent the rest of the day window shopping with my cousin. This was my first time to go around without any agenda at all. I usually plan ahead of time mentally taking down notes. I ask myself and discern do I need to buy something? where am I going to buy it? who I'm going out with and alike. I've developed this habit ever since I left my "student privileged lifestyle". With no regular allowance from my parents I learned to control myself and stick with my budget. Gone are the days where I usually splurge and max out my extension credit cards but I’m glad that I controlled “impulse buying habit” I had before.

For dinner we went to Hanakazu in BF Homes. This was the first time I experienced its restaurant dine-in service since I just usually have it to go. I told my cousin that their maki was my favorite and that I haven’t eaten there for a while since their recent price increase and because I learned how to make them maki rolls. They greeted us as we entered. The ambiance was nice and clean. I was supposed to try out their salad selections but the 300+ tag on their salad wasn’t quite justified. I ordered california maki, green tea ice cream and iced tea. Everything tasted okay but I was dismayed upon gazing the serving size of the items I ordered. How much smaller they were compared to my last take out was last year. The 200 bucks on 6 slices of maki was worth it if they haven’t changed its size. The waitress that attended us was so slow in refilling the small glass of water my cousin had. My cousin couldn’t help but notice that they paid extra attention to the Korean customers around us, “bias” my cousin kept blurting out as they hurriedly attended the foreigners. I’m so disappointed with Hanakazu, their food was still good but I could get the same quality of taste if not better taste and serving proportions on other popular Japanese restaurants. I will not, ever, visit this restaurant again.

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t-na @ 10:03 PM| 0 comments