Barracuda!

All work and no play makes Sunshine a plain Jane. Thanks to Groupon, we got a $30 voucher for half the price. So on a beautiful Saturday evening I went to have dinner with C at Barracuda Sushi. I have been craving for sushi for a while, but seriously, with only the 2 of us we cannot really order a lot. So we only ordered our usual favourites, agedashi tofu and spinach salad. But since it was a new opening, we decided to try out the Fried Suzuki drizzled with garlic oil and Baraccuda sushi.

Now, what is Suzuki? It is a type of Japanese Seabass. Woah, this was really good. The thinly sliced Suzuki was lightly pan fried and drizzled in garlic oil garnished with coriander leaves. The fish was slightly raw but because of the richness and the freshness of the meat, it was very satisfying. It has been a while since I have had such a satisfying sushi. As for the Baraccuda (soft shell crab, avocado, mangoes and salmon) was also very good. It has everything that I love in one dish, what can you not love about it? Good thing is we bought 2 $30 vouchers, which means we would be coming back soon for second round! *grin*

As the song goes...BARACCUDA! *burp*

The Slanted Charm

Grumpyurbanslacker said that he wanted to try Vietnamese when he comes to visit. After much planning and research, he decided that he wanted to try The Slanted Door. Right after he decided I called up to make reservations. It was a month ahead but all the preferred time were booked so we settled on a Sunday night at 7:45pm. We couldn't believe how packed the place was! GUS joked that the place resembled a bus transit station. As usual, I couldn't decide what to eat so he made all the decisions.

We started with the appetizer, the slanted door springrolls.

Then seared dayboat scallops with mango, toasted lemongrass and spicy fish sauce. I really liked this one very much! The scallops were cooked just right and I really liked the fresh and pickled mango. Was so glad that we ordered this over the others!

For the main course we tried the grilled ranch brother's berkshire pork chop. I know GUS loves pork! My oh my, it was really good, I really like chewing on the ribs but I don't know what GUS thought of my dinning etiquette and I didn't care to check with him and used my hand. Haha..

And the grass fed estancia shaking beef. We have no idea why it's called the shaking beef and we forgot to ask the waitress. But the beef was good and I really enjoyed the watercress in lime sauce! Haha.... I was ready to go to bed after being so contented with the meal... Hehe..

But we couldn't leave just like that, so GUS ordered the Vietnamese drip coffee. It was a tad too sweet for me but he loved it.

I was really full and we couldn't even finish our main courses but GUS had to entice me into ordering a dessert. Good call GUS, because we orderd the almond milk tapioca. Oh my god, it was really awesome. I could just come to this place again just for this dessert and nothing else! The brown thing is puree kabocha and the white part is tapioca in almond milk and the grapes were garnished with caramelized almond I think. Bottom line is I like this dessert! Yummy!

I had such a great time and towards the end of the meal I was laughing so much, I hope the food wasn't spiked with happy substance that's why we all loved it so much! Hehe...

Thanks GUS for the wonderful time!! :)

Steps of Rome

On a beautiful summer day, my friend and I took the vespa and zoomed into the city for a dessert break. The beautiful day took us to Steps of Rome. From just a coffee and tiramisu we ended up staying for dinner before heading home and that was yumm.... indeed.

A few months later, my friends came to visit and chance brought us back to Steps of Rome for dinner the 2nd time. I really loved my eggplant baked in mozzarella and the bruschetta. But this time, the tiramisu is a little soft and there was not enough alcohol in it. However, the great company compensated the not so perfect dinner. I hope my friends had as much fun as I had with them!

It was indeed a great day out with my dear friends!

Aaaah....what a life. :)

Baker's Beach

Ms. Golden Gate Bridge was too shy to come out and meet us today! As I thought I've gone to all the touristy spot to visit Ms. Golden Gate Bridge, apparently I have not. I went to Baker's Beach to visit the beauty but she was hiding behind the fog. Looks like I'll have to visit her again some other time! Hope to see you again Ms. Golden Gate Bridge!

Emandal

I love Emandal.

I love everything about Emandal, the place, the food, the weather, the people that I went with. I went to Emandal almost 4 years ago and this was the 2nd time I went and I LOVE IT! Emandal is actually a farm by Em and Al, hence the name Emandal. The weather was beautiful over the weekend that we were there, all we did was sat at the lawn, chit chat, read, ate, relaxed and did nothing. It was awesome!

That's the main building of Emandal. Isn't the weather beautiful?

The flowers and vegetables garden and the barn at the back.

Dining hall at 8pm. Where we got fed 3 times a day.

Campsite by the river.

Breakfast was served at the deck.

Everything was fresh from the farm. Eggs, fruits, milk, homemade yogurt and wheat pancakes with homemade fruit sauce!!

Even the flowers are freshly picked daily.

Lunch - Mash potatos, fresh made buns, salad and beef stew.

Dinner - Heirloom tomato with dill sauce, beets, squash, pesto pasta and onion bread! Oh yum...the onion bread was so yummy!!

We learned to make pickles. We picked the cucumber, cleaned it, cut it, filled it up in the jars with grapes' leaf, chili, garlic and dill.

Another really cool thing was that there were wild berries all over the farm and we got to pick and ate them while we walked.

And grape vines by the deck.

On the last day of camp, they gave us complimentary freshly picked produce! Isn't that awesome?

I had a really great time at Emandal and it is something that I will always look forward to every year. Who know, maybe if you visit me at the right time next year we get to go together! :)

The End of Summer Camp 2010

You're not required to say grace before a meal. But do you think about the food on your table every time you eat it? For my last meal before heading back to SF, my sister made a big pot of soup and kakak made dinner. It would be my last home cook food until I go home next summer. It was probably the best meal I've ever tasted in my whole entire summer trip because the main ingredient is L.O.V.E. and I thank thee for the wonderful and yummyliciously prepared dinner.

25 yards

How much would you pay to play golf?

In Manila, 3 buckets of golf balls + a caddy girl costs less than Php. 200 and with an instructor for an hour it's Php. 700. Now, what say you? Golf anyone? :)