Doi Speaks

Cooking Chicken Curry

Posted on 9 October 2011 | 1 response | 386 views

My mom’s version of the Chicken Curry dish is one of my favorites and until today, I never bothered learning how to cook this dish since I thought it was very difficult. But since my mom’s sick, I had to stop whatever it is that kept me busy online to report for duty in our kitchen.

P.S. I rarely interfere with our kitchen affairs but it doesn’t mean I don’t know my way in there

So for today’s lunch, I saw a bag of fresh ground coconut (“kinudkud nga lubi”) and a whole chiken being defrosted in our kitchen sink. My mom summoned me and told me to prepare the ingredients for the chicken curry. It was my first time to extract juice from the coconut to be used for dish. The last thing I remembered, I was using that coconut’s milk eons ago as hair treatment. ahahaha. So I had to ask my mom for instructions since I was lost.

Extracting the Coconut Milk as per my mom’s instructions:
1. Remove the coconut from the plastic bag and transfer it in a bowl.
2. Add 2 glasses of water
3. Start squeezing the coconut to extract its juice (considering you already washed your hands, k?)
4. When the color of the extract turns to white after a couple of squeezes here and there, you can stop now and strain the milk to get rid of the coconut pulp.
5. Set it aside since this will be your broth for the chicken curry.

It was almost 12noon and my mom tried to ask me to hand her the whole chicken so that she could slice it but I simply denied her request and told her I know how to cut the chicken and that she should just rest or take her lunch (since she’s not gonna eat this dish anyway – she’s allergic to chicken).

So I grabbed the whole chicken and started cutting it in half. We’re not gonna cook all the chicken since we’re only 4 in our household. I placed the other half inside the fridge and started slicing the other half. I was able to slice the chicken into 7 parts. I washed them with water and then added some salt to marinate them. After this, I resumed straining the pulp out of the coconut milk and then crushed 3 cloves of garlic and sliced 1 whole onion. And then I started cooking…

Cooking the Chicken Curry
1. Heated the pan and added oil.
2. Sauteed the garlic and onion until golden brown
3. Dropped the marinated and sliced chicken in the pan
4. Added ground pepper
5. Sauteed them altogether till the outer portion of the chicken gets cooked
6. Just before the sauteed chicken ran out its own juice, pour in the coconut milk
7. Drop 2 pieces of finger chilies (siling espada)
8. Let everything boil
9. When you see it boiling, add curry powder. The amount? enough for you to see the entire broth turn yellowish
10. Let it boil some more till the chicken is cooked and the broth evaporates? hahaha (sorry. no idea what the term is)
11. Just before it rans out of water, turn the stove off and voila! you have your chicken curry!

And here’s my own version of the dish they call Chicken Curry. Mind you, this isn’t spicy since my pop is not allowed to eat spicy foods. But if you want to try cooking this dish, you can modify the steps and perhaps even slit the siling labuyo to release the spice in it.

I was happy that I was able to cook this dish. And to think I thought it was so difficult to cook this! Well, extracting the coconut milk could be tedious but that wasn’t difficult. To me, difficult would be making tocino, chorizo, embutido, kare-kare, dinuguan, laing and rellenong pusit! All of which are my mom’s specialty. Hmmmmm…made me think I need to ask her to teach me how to prepare those dishes too!

Now mentally adding Chicken Curry to the few dishes I know how to cook!

Discovering Sperry Top-Sider

Posted on 28 September 2011 | 2 responses | 1,282 views

Complex Lifestyle Store launched a new line of shoes just recently and I was happy that I got the chance to be there to witness the unveiling of an American Original. And that’s when I got introduced to Sperry Top-Sider. I guess Sperry is a regular household brand when shoes are concerned back in the US and I never really realized how big this brand is until I saw their line of shoes and I saw my friend’s reaction upon the mention of the shoe brand.

Prior to the launch, I mentioned to my friend Ed that Sperry was the brand name that will be launched in the Complex Lifestyle Store and I could almost see through our chat conversation the excitement that was building up on my friend’s face which was why he didn’t hesitate to ask if it’s still possible for him to join the event.

I am guilty of not knowing anything about Sperry. And even a couple of days after the event, I told an officemate about Sperry and asked him if he knows the brand. I guess he was restraining from rolling his eyes over when he replied with a big “Yes”. Raffy is a top-sider fanatic too and he had to inform me how he’s been dying to get a Sperry but couldn’t as it was too expensive. I reassured him that it’s not that expensive but he told me that the Sperry design he was eyeing in Rustans costs around 9k. I simply told him that the stocks sold in Complex Lifestyle Store are half that price or even lower. I also told him that this was the 1st time that Sperry Top-Sider brought their brand to the Philippines so my guess was the expensive shoes displayed in Rustans is priced as such since there was no competition around. But with Complex stocking every Sperry design you’d imagine, there’s no reason why every top-sider fanatic like my friend Raffy couldn’t afford to buy one.

Sperry Top-Sider has been an American favorite since 1935 when Paul Sperry, inspired by his dog Prince’s ability to run nimbly over ice and snow, used a pen knife to cut siping into the outsole of a rubber snearker. This ingenuity, along with the iconic inspiration of other design details launched an American Original. Our mission is to share this unique story with a new generation that will embrace our brand because of its heritage, authenticity and optimistic personality.

A BRAND BORN AT SEA

As Paul Sperry watched his cocker spaniel, Prince, run across the ice on a winter’s day in Connecticut, he noticed his dog’s amazing ability to maintain traction on the slippery surface. Turning over Prince’s paw, he observed hundreds of tiny cracks and cuts going in all directions. These wave-like grooves became the inspiration for Mr. Sperry’s latest patent, called Razor-Siping™, and were instrumental in maximizing the traction and performance of the Authentic Original Sperry Top-Sider first introduced in 1935. Since inventing the first boat shoe, our brand continues to share our “Passion for the Sea” with those who enjoy the good life in, on and around the ocean.

I too am a fan of top-sider shoes, though you’d rarely see me wearing one. But upon seeing the different designs available at the Complex Lifestyle Store, I couldn’t help admire them all. They were sooo pretty! I love!

A Sperry Top-Sider for Her

When I tried checking out the soles of the Top Sider, I couldn’t help but admire the Non-Skid Sole feature of their shoes. What I saw was a flat sole with those zigzaggy lines all over its back. When I tried to fold the shoes, I discovered that those lines were actually slits – a truly remarkable design!

Just recently, Sperry Top-sider celebrated their 75 years as America’s favorite nautical footwear. This brand as been awarded the 2010 Plus Award for Design Excellence in the Men’s Street category. Because of Sperry Top-Sider, a love affair with “boat shoes” back in 1935 was launched and continuously charms every person on the go.

my barrel tassel knot

Another cool thing about each Sperry Top-Sider shoes is the barrel lace on their authentic leather shoelaces. We even got the chance to try doing a barrel tassel knot and the fastest to make 5 rows of knots get to take home a Sperry! Too bad I didn’t win. lol

If you’ve got time, check out the Sperry Top-Sider shoes available at the Complex Lifestyle Store at Ayala Center Cebu or at Eastwood Mall. Just remember, if you don’t see the logo name +Top-Sider, then it’s not Sperry.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Please visit http://www.sperrytopsider.com/

Please check out the Sperry Philippines Facebook site:
https://www.facebook.com/SperryTopSiderPH

Complex Lifestyle Store Stocks Sperry Top-Sider

Always stocking the freshest merchandise, Complex Lifestyle Store is now offering respected American heritage brand Sperry Top-Sider. On display is a well selected assembly of the iconic boat shoe in canvas, suede, metallic and the classic leather as it was invented by Paul Sperry in 1935. Expect to see more of Sperry Top-Sider very soon!

At Complex Lifestyle Store, our aim is to curate the best merchandise and ideas from a wide array of brands from footwear and apparel to accessories and integrate them into a single unique experience. We believe in redefining the boundaries of popular fashion and culture to deliver progressive solutions demanded by today’s modern lifestyle.

Herea are a few of the brands Complex Lifestyle Store stocks:

Creative Recreation, Ecko Unltd., Zoo York , Pony, Sperry, Keds, Energie, Havaianas, Heima*, Ray Ban, G-shock and Nooka*

*not available in Ayala Center Cebu

Catch the latest Sperry Top-Sider designs from Complex Lifestyle Stores located at Eastwood Mall and Ayala Center Cebu.

Eastwood Mall
E. Rodriguez, Jr. Avenue
Quezon City
+632 709 2183

Ayala Center Cebu
Cebu Business Park
Cebu City, Cebu
+6332 412 6827

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/complexlifestyle
Twitter http://www.twitter.com/complexstore

Where in the World is Bubbles?

Posted on 11 August 2011 | 7 responses | 969 views

When I was still working in IT Park, Lahug, it couldn’t be helped that I end up dining at Jollibee IT Park due to their value meals especially when I don’t like the food served in our pantry.

On one of my solo lunch takeouts on a busy time of the day night, I’d have to line up in Jollibee to buy my food. So I was there alone waiting for my turn to order when suddenly I heard this big happy and exceptionally perky voice behind the counters of Jollibee.

The voice said “I received 500 pesos from your lucky wallet!” A smirk forms in my mouth when I heard that comment. Then I patiently waited for my turn. Again, that voice said “Thank you for coming and more power!” Now I started getting curious. Who could that person be?

As I moved forward to finally place my order, I saw this guy behind the counters.

The name plate pinned on this crew’s shirt said “Hi my name is BUBBLES”

the very bubbly Bubbles as a Red Ribbon crew

And that’s the first time I experienced the “Bubbles Magic!”

Bubbles is just an ordinary fast food crew who has an exceptional way of showing excellent customer service. Every time Bubbles takes your order, he makes sure that he adds his own personal customer service touch to make your order experience bubbly!

Here are some his famous lines when taking your order..

“I received money from your lovely hands”
“Pwde kahuwat ug 5 minutes kay gipalami-an pa imong burger” (Please wait for 5 minutes as we are preparing an extra special burger for you)
“I received 50 pesos from your fabulous and expensive-looking wallet”

then all of a sudden, I no longer saw Bubbles in Jollibee IT Park. He was one of the reasons why I constantly buy food from that food chain. The other crew members of Jollibee tried to mimic his customer handling skills but no one was able to match Bubbles’ great customer service skills.

A year after, today to be exact, I was really happy when I saw Bubbles again. He is now working as a crew at the Red Ribbon outlet in SM Cebu. When I saw him, he even greeted me with “Welcome to my new home! Thanks for visting me!” hahaha. Same old Bubbly Bubbles. Nothing changed with the way he handles his customers. He is still in his usual perky self. I guess what’s great about his new home is that he has accumulated more punch lines for that Magical Bubbles Experience like “bug-at ang among cake sa tiyan pero dili sa bulsa kaya bili nah!” (our cakes are heavy on the stomach but not on your pockets, so buy now!)

Bubbles even mentioned that one of his fans created a Facebook page for him and told me to check it out. I couldn’t help smile at the thought of seeing him again. Upon checking out his FB Fanpage, you will read how grateful his customers were for his ability to bring a smile into their faces, including mine.

So to those who doesn’t know what happened to Bubbles and wonders where in the world is Bubbles, you can catch him at the Red Ribbon outlet in SM City Cebu. If you want to experience great display of exceptional customer service skills, you oughta pay Bubbles a visit and experience the Bubbles Magic!

You can visit his Fanpage at https://www.facebook.com/saksinibubbles to know more about his exceptional service

Truffle Box Cake

Posted on 19 June 2011 | 2 responses | 940 views

Never seen such a beautiful cake like this one for the longest time. It really looked yummy! Didn’t get the chance to eat it though. Perhaps I don’t want the cake’s taste to ruin my perception of its beauty

 

Joining the Cebu Blog Camp 2011

Posted on 21 May 2011 | No responses | 26,681 views

It’s the season of the Cebu Blog Camp and this year, I will join the event again like I did last year.

Admission to the Cebu Blog Camp 2011 is free and I am looking forward to meet new friends and old acquaintances on this event. I enjoyed last year’s Cebu Blog Camp which is also one reason why I am coming back this year to attend this event. Since I have also blogger friends who are part of this committee, attending the event is also my way of supporting the Cebu Blog Camp 2011.

I am also curious to know what’s in store for the this year’s Blog Camp. The programme includes topics about Photography 101, Travel 101, Social Media Marketing 101, Social Media Marketing Success Through Facebook, Google and Travel, Bloggers’ Etiquette 101 and Food & Restaurant Review 101 and I am looking forward to being able to grasp learning from the speakers of each topic.

The Cebu Blog Camp 2011 will happen on May 28th and bloggers coming from Cebu and the rest of the country will gather at the St. Joseph’s Hall of Sacred Heart Center for this year’s event.

The Cebu blog Camp is an event organized annually by the Cebu Bloggers of the Blog and Soul Movement which is the educating leg of the Philippine Blog Awards Inc. which has been running for already four years. This is the largest gathering of bloggers in Cebu.

I am not sure if there are still slots open but you can try registering on this link.

To those who are joining the Cebu Blog Camp, see you there!

Sponsors

THE CEBU BLOG CAMP 2011
is co-presented by

Bronze Sponsors

Geiser Maclang Marketing Communications, Inc.

 

Media and Institution Partners

Official Online Print Media

Official Photo-Social Media Partner

DONOR

Academy for International Culinary Arts

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