Ice cold Kumo on a hot summer day

Summer is officially here!  It was so warm the other day that I wanted to see how fast it would take for ice to melt :D

I put a few ice cubes on the wooden bench outside and just watched as they melted.  It was a slow day for me so watching the ice was the highlight of my afternoon. Haha!  I'm kidding of course.

Kumo was keeping cool by just hanging out under the bench

but he got curious when he saw the ice.  It's really funny because he had his tongue out in most of the photos I took of him that afternoon :D

nom nom nom ice!

Love letters

Chinese New Year is over but I found my self thinking and craving for love letter wafers.  When I was living in Singapore, these yummy treats were everywhere during the CNY!  I have never seen them before so naturally I was very intrigued. 

Love letter wafers or "Kueh Kapit" are crispy thin wafers made from coconut milk and flour.  They are a lot like our barquillos except for the strong coconut taste and the auspicious words and symbols that are beautifully embossed on each wafer.  They are either rolled or folder into a triangle.

So pretty!  I'm not really sure why these wafers are called Love Letters, but a Chinese-Malaysian friend mentioned that there is an old rumor that these cookies were once used to hide romantic notes between lovers.  Isn't that just sweet? :)  

I love tomatoes!

Do you like tomatoes?  I love them!

Aside from being an excellent source of vitamins and anti oxidants, they taste really good too. 

Here I have 4 different kinds of tomatoes.  I rarely see the "pumpkin" shaped ones (also known as Heirloom tomatoes) so I make it a point to buy whenever I see them at the market.

These taste the same as the regular round ones but the skin is just a bit thicker.

They are quite interesting to look at too!  In fact, I have a small collection of Heirloom tomato photos :)  I scanned this photo above which I took back in 2002.

Perfect for making chunky tomato sauce for pasta!  Yum :) 

Places to love in Baguio: House of Waffles

[UPDATE 2/2/14: Place in now closed] Waffles for breakfast? Yes please!

I was so happy when we decided to have breakfast at The House of Waffles in Camp John Hay.  I'm not sure, but I think this restaurant used to be Country Waffles.

Golden waffle served with butter and maple syrup.

We also ordered a yummy Mexican style omelet!  It had jalapeno peppers, cheese, sour cream and tomatoes.  Served with toast and hash brown.  Our meals didn't come with coffee so we decided to drop by Starbucks which is just a few meters away from House of Waffles.

 

Iced coffee and juice.  We also bought a Baguio mug for our collection.  I was also looking for a sterling silver bracelet in the shop but sadly did not find a design that I liked.

Love the view :)

Things that make me happy

Just another list of random things that make me happy :)  Happy Friday, folks!

furry ball shaped cats!

Sleeping cat puzzle

Free pizza! Thank you CPK and HSBC :)

a box of the best fried chicken!

taking mirror photos

alien tomatoes

finding floral printed insoles at the P88 store!

Cape Gooseberries

Have you ever seen a cape gooseberry?  The first time I saw one was about 2 years ago at the organic market in Baguio.  I was immediately drawn to the beautiful cocoon like covering.

It says gooseberry on the label, but I later found out that gooseberry is different from cape gooseberry (thank you wiki).

Inside the shell is a small round fruit that has a waxy texture.  It's hard to describe how it tastes because it has such a unique flavor... It's sweet, tart and sometimes also sour at the same time :D

Empty shells.  They remind me of the cocoon collection I had before.

All picked :)

Stone Temple Pilots in Manila

Dear Stone Temple Pilots,

 Why did it take you guys more than a decade to visit us in Manila?

We are big fans here :)  As you can see, the coliseum was packed!

It was a really great show!

I just wished that your other songs such as "Big Bang Baby", "Lady Picture Show" and "Art School Girlfriend" were included in the play list as well :D

But thank you for singing "Interstate Lone Song"!  I hope I will get the chance to watch you in concert again :)