Christmas 2010: Christmas Day

I was thinking of going out that day to watch a movie much like what I used to do in Manila on Christmas day but I was a bit lazy. We decided to just relax at home and we started preparing for dinner by mid-afternoon.

Liempo from Abby and Eco:



Lumpiang Shanghai and Fried Chicken from Clarice and Eli:



Prawns from Abby and Eco which I cooked:



Kare-Kare from Eli which Noel cooked:



Christmas Glazed Ham from me:



Log Cake from Em-J:



Ching, Haydz and Fifi brought along spaghetti, roasted chicken and beef with mushrooms but we were already busy posing for group pictures that we forgot to take photos of their dishes, oh, and Noel also prepared a delicious fruit salad for dessert. (We have so much food that Noel is still eating the left overs till now.)

Here we all are:



















Opening the presents:















Games:











While we don't have our families with us, celebrating it with friends is the next best thing.

Christmas 2010: Christmas Eve

Christmas has always been one of the biggest holidays for Filipinos. Since none of us is flying back home to celebrate, we decided to make the most of the season by celebrating twice this year. (Also because Ching, Haydz had to work on the 24th).

We prepared just a few dishes on the eve itself. Some prawns, chicken wings, spaghetti, macaroni salad and the Christmas tree "cake" from Fairmont. We really didn't have much time to cook since we all had work that day. I headed to the hotel after work to pick up the goodies that we ordered. I then met up with Noel and Eli at FairPrice AMK Hub to get the ingredients for the day.

We then opened a few presents just to complete the Christmas feel.

So Much For That

So much for my planned Christmas countdown. I got sick for a couple of days, became busy with last minute Christmas shopping and all other sorts of stuff.

Have a Merry Merry Christmas everyone!

By the way, this particular video has been on repeat for the past week. I've been listening to their version almost non-stop.

Christmas Countdown

It's only 9 days before Christmas!

The Walking Dead

For The Walking Dead fans, one year of waiting is waaaaay too long so let's hold on to every little bit of Walking Dead video out there.

Here's a video of every Zombie Kill on the show:



Plus, if it doesn't creep you out, here's the main theme of the series on repeat:

Gerry's and Sweet Spot

*Photos taken with BB Torch

Last Friday, I went to Starhub at Plaza Singapura to have my iPhone replaced. The home button has been acting up and it has become totally unresponsive by Thursday. I guess it's quite common with iPhones because processing the replacement was fairly hassle free (no questions asked) but wait time is approximately an hour.



I then met up with Em-J and we proceeded to Gerry's. We got there at a little past 8 and too bad that they're out of sisig again. The good thing is they still have a few more dishes available, I settled with the Kare-Kare which was very good especially the bagoong! Yay to Gerry's!

After dinner, Em-J had this bright idea to walk all the way to the newly opened Marina Bay link since it has an MRT station connected to it. Good thing the link is airconditioned because it felt like we were walking forever with no MRT station in sight.



I did chance upon this very spacious Din Tai Fung there, but sadly, I doubt that we'll go all the way to the Link just to eat there when there are several much nearer ones though crowded.



Good thing I have this sweet treats with me so there was something to look forward to after that long trek.

Still on my quest for good macarons, I tried Sweet Spot located at Tower 3 of the Marina Bay Sands hotel. Priced at $2 each, it was pretty affordable. Forget what I said about Bakerzin's macarons, these are way better. There's a burst of flavor after the very first bite. 

Now, there are two more reasons to troop all the way to Marina Bay Sands. 

24: The Complete Series

To celebrate the release of the complete series of 24 on DVD (which I'd like to have), they recently launched a 24 marathon fan fest.

Three contestants were able to create a new world record of 86-hours non-stop watching.

True Blood: Bill and Eric

While the fourth season of True Blood will have Bill and Eric's rivalry escalating, in real life, The Battle of the Fang recently ended with Bill on top raising almost $70,000 for charity.

source: http://www.trueblood-news.com/battle-of-the-fang-a-looziana-grudge-match

Belated Happy Birthday!!!

Belated happy birthday Don and Shobe!

Bakerzin

I was craving for macarons a couple of weeks back and it didn't help that I saw Monica's Pierre Hermé post in Facebook. I dropped by TWG and got me a sampler ($2 each) and while I liked some of their flavors, there were a few pieces that I didn't. I need to find me some really good ones.



I eventually ended up at Bakerzin in Yishun the following day. I've actually never been to any of their stores which is kind of a surprise since I'm always on the look out for good pastries and they are quite well known here in Singapore to offer some of the best. I guess I just always associated Bakerzin with the name Baker's Inn which doesn't sound too enticing.

Anyway, they have the pre-packed macarons ($8 for 6 pieces), I didn't get the chance to choose the flavors which is fine since if I'm not getting the pre-packed ones there were only three flavors to choose from.







Let me just say that it was love at first bite for me. I loved the flavors! If I have one gripe about their sweet little pastries is that I found that most of them don't have the crisp shell. It was chewy all throughout.

I loved their macarons so much that I decided to eat at Bakerzin the next day. I got even more impressed when I saw their menu. You can tell that a lot of thought was placed in conceptualizing it.





I tried the seafood puff pastry which was very tasty and I have to say they didn't scrimp on the ingredients.


They also have set meals which are quite affordable if you want a little of everything.

I then tried their Chocolate soufflé and the Bailey's Irish Cream soufflé. I liked the chocolate, it was light and fluffy but packs a flavor. I especially like the vanilla ice cream, anytime I see vanilla beans, I'm sold. The other one, I'd skip.







I still have my eye on a few more of their desserts. I'm just glad that I gave Bakerzin a try.