Dinner for three

Once every week, honey sweeps me off my feet and takes me out on a date. It can be a fancy restaurant dinner or a meal in one of the restaurants in front of the beach or it can be as simple as a Mcdonald’s snack. He says that it’s our bonding moment when we can spend a couple of hours just laughing at corny jokes and enjoying a hearty meal together, and sometimes, depending on where he takes me, we also have access to fantastic view. Normally, honey chooses the place where we go but a couple of weeks back, after learning about National Restaurant Week here in the Netherlands from an email sent by a colleague, I volunteered to make a reservations to a participating restaurant very close to us.

Last night’s dinner was at Restaurant ML since a good friend of mine, L, is in town with us from Dubai, it was a dinner for three. The restaurant was very laid back, simple yet elegant. I really liked the high-arched windows and the tamed lights that give a very romantic vibe. First served on our table was a tiny cup of sea food soup (an espresso cup was used to serve this soup so initially we thought that it was coffee), king crab with Moroccan dough and trout soufflé with apple. The crabs were superb, sweet and fresh with the Moroccan dough giving each bite a nice crackle while the soup was smooth and flavorful, I could completely do away with the soufflé though.
Next served was another set of appetizers which were nothing spectacular followed by a cod fish with a sliced scallop on the side, I think it was seared coz the meat was very juicy but the skin (don’t know if that’s what it’s called in fishes) was really crunchy, though the fish was utterly fresh, I found a bit bland but hubby and L liked it a lot. The main dish was served next, it was veal steak with veal pate wrapped in Chinese cabbage on the side. It was too plain and too raw for all three of us (it was not even rare, I think it was done black and blue), I prefer steaks to be well done, I know a lot of people who likes their steaks rare or black and blue even, but not us. After the main course we were served with coffee ice cream with kahloua jelly on the bottom, after that two more desserts were served. All of us really enjoyed the ice cream though.


One thing that we noticed though was how long it took for the next course to be served. Just imagine we arrived at exactly 7:45 and we left the restaurant at 11:30pm. All in all it was a good dinner, all of us enjoyed each other’s company and it was a pretty good time to catch up with an old friend and it’s nice to try and enjoy the restaurant week for the first time.

My DNA

While blog hopping, i chanced upon this test on Boo's page and thought it would be fun to try and see what it has to say about me. The result....






Not completely accurate but the test results hit the mark on some points there. Definitely worth trying.

My Paradise

Atop a cliff, where the air is misty and fresh and quite often foggy, there stood an impressive three-story home. The moment I stood in front of the massive wooden and steel gate, I knew that this is no ordinary abode. The gate opens to a driveway, circling an island leading toward the main entrance of the home then back to the main gate, expanse of well manicured garden filled with colorful flowers, fragrant herbs and vibrant summer-fruits crawl on both sides of the driveway. At the center of the spherical driveway is an oasis that has a water well fountain surrounded by yet more flowers of all kinds, shapes colors and sizes. The foggy surrounding coupled with the mood lights gave the island a more magical feel to it.

Inside the home, the living room is spacious with a big wide-screen TV and surround sound system. The most noticeable part of the living room though, one of the walls that is a wall fountain. The sound of trickling water is very soothing. On one side of the living room is a glass sliding door that leads to a veranda. The veranda is made entirely of glass, from the four walls to the ceiling however, during summer days when there is too much sunlight the electronic shade installed can be used to cover the ceiling and even the walls. The veranda has a dining table to accommodate lunches or even romantic dinners. The doors of the veranda open to a pool that is designed to look like a natural pond with the adjacent Jacuzzi giving an effect of water falls this is surrounded by garden with all kinds of plants.



On the other side of the wall fountain in the living area is the dining room with high ceiling, beautiful light fixtures and a long table that invites anyone to sit and dine. Adjacent to the dining room is the kitchen where a side-by-side refrigerator is installed on the wall. The kitchen top is made of granite where a stove-top was built in. An oven is also built in below the stove-top. There are plenty of kitchen cabinets that provide ample space for utensils, plates, glasses and all sorts of kitchen stuff.



Another door from the living room would lead to an entertainment room that has a billiard table on one corner, a fuss ball table on the other corner, another big TV on the other side and a massive collection of DVDs are displayed on the cabinet on the wall. The game room is also equipped with a snack bar and a personal ref.

One of my favorite things in this house is a secret door of sorts tucked in nicely in a corner of the ground floor that opens into an elevator that leads to both the second and third floor so that even if hubby and I are already old, we can still enjoy the entire house.

The second floor houses two bedrooms for the kids, two guest rooms to accommodate guests and family who come and visit, a gym equipped with state of the art work-out machines as well as exercise videos of all kinds, and of course the library/office which has an extensive collection of books that hubby and me love to read and is equipped with a wide-screen TV which serves as a monitor for laptops. Except for the library/office, each room has its own bathroom with bath tubs and walk in closets. One of the kids’ rooms is done on pink color palette while the other one in blue. The two guest rooms are a display of various shades of purple.

On the third floor is the master’s bedroom, the door opens into a narrow pathway that has a door on the left which takes me to the bathroom. In one corner of the bathroom is a Jacuzzi, at the back of which is a tall glazed window, opposite the Jacuzzi is the glass enclosed shower. In one corner of the bathroom is a door that leads to the walk in closet, the right side is for the lady of the house while the left side is for the man of the house. Both are equipped with an electronic closet where all the clothes are hung color wise. A click on the remote will cause the rod to move and all the clothes parade before me for ease of choosing the attire for the day. Opposite the closet is a cabinet that is as high as the ceiling and goes down to the floor with glass cover that displays all the shoes, this cabinet can hold up to hundreds of shoes. Going further the pathway is the main bedroom with a four-poster bed facing a huge plasma TV. At the far end of the room is a sliding door that leads to a terrace that has a view of the mountains outside and the magnificent pool and garden on the ground floor.



This is exactly how I envision my dream home. My dream home is not only a house of comfort, elegance and style, I also imagine it to combine both the conveniences of modern living and accessibility to the incomparable beauty of Mother Nature. It is a home that gives rest, recharges the tired body and revitalizes the fatigued mind. Above all this is the home that will stand witness to me and my hubby’s growing old together. It is my very own paradise.


_____________________________________________________________________________________

This is an entry to A Cabin Full of Log Homes’ My Dream Home Group Writing Project.

Cholatier!

A couple of weeks ago, I have tried making my very first batch of chocolate chip cookies and I was so encouraged with the results so when I chanced upon this recipe from Market Manila, I gave in and decided to make my own.

I couldn’t find any bread flour so I decided to substitute with ordinary all purpose flour and as for the feves or chocolate discs, I didn’t have them as well so I opted to use the bigger chocolate chips that I bought from Manila. I made my cookie dough Friday evening thinking that by Sunday morning, I would serve Honey these spectacular cookies.



Come Sunday morning, the moment of truth has arrived, I molded the dough in flowers and hearts shape and baked them as per instruction. When I heard the “ding” of the oven to signal that the cookies are ready, I hurriedly went and retrieved the cookies. The cookies didn’t hold the shape I made them into before baking but when I tasted it, it was absolutely fantastic. Much better than the first ones that I have made. Honey enjoyed it a lot and even brought some to the office come Monday.



This recipe is definitely worth making again.

Cool summer breeze

During warm summer days, we’ve discovered that there is nothing better than letting in the cool breeze through the humongous windows in our home. It’s even better than turning on the fan. That is what we’ve been doing for a couple of weeks now when the temperature here climbs up to about 31 degrees. My only issue with opening the windows is that because we have such big windows, some mosquitoes and garden flies come in. It’s not that bad, really, I just get pissed off when I hear a mosquito hovering around.

The solution…




While strolling around last Saturday, we chanced upon this cute insect swatting device. Initially I thought it was just an ordinary swatting device but upon closer inspection, I realized it is actually battery operated and emits electricity through the strings and electrocutes the insects as they come in contact with them. Cool huh. It’s quite effective actually, no more pestering, hovering insects for us.

The brown room

One of the first things we conceptualized before we finally started decorating our home was the color scheme. We have decided that each part of the house would sport a different color palette or motif so that it would be easier for us to decide which furniture, décor and textiles to buy. We decided a black and white palette for our living room, the bathroom on the ground floor would have a beach motif, our bedroom is a display of various shades of blue and the kitchen is in natural wood and burgundy tint. When Mama Lita came here for a visit, we dressed up one of the guest rooms in brown and earth shades. However, during those times, we haven’t had any curtains made for the room. In anticipation of Ate Nicky and her family’s visit, we bought several curtains while we were back in Manila for our holidays. We finally found the perfect curtain that would go in each of the spare rooms.

Over the weekend, Honey finally managed to replace and install new curtain rods on both the spare rooms and we were able to drape the brown room with these beautiful curtains. I had to laugh when honey said “I can’t stop looking at the (brown) room, it’s just so pretty!” haha. I think Ate Nicky and her hubby would be very comfortable in here on their week-long stay.


Hopefully, we could manage to clear up and prettify the other spare room over the week, if only it’s not Honey’s month-end. Ahh, accountants and our month-ends. Stay tuned, we will be creating a green space out of the other room.

One lazy Sunday afternoon

We’ve been having a bright, sunny and warm weather here in Amsterdam for quite a while now and it is an opportunity we grabbed to have friends over, finish a long overdue project and prepare for the visit of families and friends in the weeks to come. As welcome as the great weather is, the activity laden weekdays and weekends this entire month or so has taken its toll and I really needed a relaxed day to just lay like broccoli and the gray and rainy Sunday afternoon was just the perfect opportunity to do just that.

Honey was still hurling around installing curtain rods and window blinds to the guest rooms. My poor honey, so I fixed him a snack first before selecting a movie I could watch while curled up in bed. I chose Memoirs of a Geisha.


I am very fond of this film coz I really like the setting of the movie, an old Japanese town and the characters performances are notable. The movie tells us a tale of a young child, who through circumstances, was exposed and soon became a part of the mysterious world of the Geishas. The movie revolves around her trials while growing up and her path to becoming a Geisha, her inspirations, her glory, her love and ultimately the fulfillment of her long desire. Zhang Ziyi, I think, is the perfect choice to play this part, she lends Sayuri’s character a beauty and grace that I don’t think any other actress could have. Gong Li also gave a distinguished portrayal of Hatsumumo’s character who was a conniving, selfish, jealous Geisha who was envious of Sayuri’s character and beauty. I have watched Memoirs of a Geisha several times in the past but I never get bored with it.

I haven’t read this international best selling book though but I am currently in search of a copy here in Amsterdam so that I could compare the movie portrayal and the novel. This movie was the perfect choice while relaxing on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

I have a secret

Honey and I were on our way back here in Amsterdam from our emergency trip back home to Manila and while waiting for our connecting flight from Hong Kong to Amsterdam, we decided to stroll and explore the shops inside the Hong Kong International Airport. As we entered one of the bookstores, I chanced upon this book and remembered seeing it quite a few times in the past already. I even saw Samantha from Sex and the City reading this book in one of the scenes from the movie. I got intrigued and since we were still about to embark on another thirteen-hour flight, I decided I could use some books to pass time and bought it together with a romantic novel (Return to Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux). The book was entitled The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.

It has been over a month since then and I have finished reading the romance novel long since but I seemed to have forgotten about The Secret book that I have kept on my night stand drawer. I was rummaging through our bookshelf for something to read last weekend when I finally remembered about this book that I have been neglecting. So up I went to our bedroom and started browsing through the pages of this very curious book. It was very easy to read, chapters are short and messages were simple but hard hitting. It talks about how a person should be the master of his thoughts and ultimately the creator of his destiny. The ideas presented are thought provoking and uplifting. All in all, I think this is one book worth reading