11:11

Just a few more minutes before 2011.. I'd like to say thank you for such a wonderful year! There has been some rough and tumble, but I'm grateful for everything that has gone my way! 

Last time was Milo, now it's Coco the black 'n tan minpin's turn to say Happy Paw Year!

 HAPPY NEW YEAR, Everyman and Everydog!

Cheers, to a paw-some 2011!

HK Food Post: Whole Roasted Suckling Pig

During my Hong Kong-Macau-Hong Kong trip, I was able to sample high-class Cantonese and Macanese lauriat spreads. (By Philippine standards at least; over there it was considered poh tong or "regular" set menu.) At two dinners, one in each Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, the appetizers featured was Whole Roasted Suckling Pig. 

This was the first "Pig" we had in Macau. These lovely things are probably first cousins of the lechon we have here in the Philippines. But they aren't served in the same manner; not those chopped, yummy blocks of juicy meat, (icky fat) and crispy skin. This Chinese-style roasted pigs are presented in such a cute way; cherries for eyes with slices of mouth-watering, crunchy, flavorful skin, accompanied by little flour tortillas and hoisin sauce for more flavor. Instead of wrapping it up like peking duck, you get a tortilla, slather on some hoisin, and top it off with the crispy skin like a bite-sized Chinese pizza you eat with your chopsticks.

This is the poor fellow we had in Hong Kong. We were all too hungry to wait for a piggy photo-op before digging in. This little piggy was much more interesting simply because it had light bulbs that were actually lit up with batteries when it was served. If my memory serves me right, I believe the Macanese pig was more delicious that this one. The Cantonese pig had a thicker layer of fat, which I promptly removed before chowing down. On another note, our server in Macau was better trained and more courteous. She was able to slice the noodles with quick flicks of her wrist, using only her chopsticks! The lady in HK was a bit more, unrefined, if I may say. 

This has got to be my favorite dish in the entire lauriat spread. If you have the chance to try this anywhere, please do! Since you'll be able to eat only two to three pieces if you're in a table of twelve, forget you diet for a bit and indulge in the porky goodness :)

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays everyone! I bet all you have been busy wrapping presents, preparing food and hosting parties. It's Christmas today, so kick off your shoes, sit back and enjoy the festive season with a relaxing mood! And so I leave you with Milo the red Min Pin trying to look "fas-yown" with his striped blue and white scarf. (Don't tell him he looks dorky though, he might get mad!) He barks, "Paw-tacular Paw-lidays, everydog!"

Chopper!

Can I just say that I've wanted this for a while, but never had the guts to actually pull out a wad of cash for the plush figure plus crazy amount for shipping.

Tony Tony Chopper!

He's just the most adorable thing ever. Doesn't help that he's soft, huggable, posable, and his backpack and jacket are usable and wearable! *fangirl* What busts the bank is the 6300 yen price tag and of course, shipping. Gasp.

Sundance Post-Op

We discovered that Sundance has a hematoma in his right ear early last week. I quickly called the vet and scheduled his minor surgery. Since it wasn't an emergency, he gave us an appointment for Monday, to attend to more serious cases first. He was picked up by our good vet, sliced open(yikes!), sewn up and brought home the next day. 

Post-op day 2. 

Sundance took the whole thing in stride. No trauma, no nothing. He wasn't even fussy at all. It was us who were traumatized by the look of his shaven, stitched up, swollen and kinda bloody ear. Hopefully his meds will make the puffiness go away. A closer look, not for the squeamish.

Looks puffy, like a balloon! See the stitches?

Most of the blood that wasn't on the wound itself we already wiped off when we cleaned his handsome mug. Now, we're in search of a nice E-collar to put on him, as per the vet's advice. Not that Sundance has been a bad boy scratching his ear or what, but to protect his ear from any unnecessary trauma. 

 'mbn (Sundae's contribution to this post!)

Sundance chillin' in his pen at lunchtime. 

He gets free(dom) time to run and roam the back part of the compound in the morning and in the afternoon, when there is no danger of outside trucks running over him. He's such a sweet thing, the only gripe we have about him is that he's too hyper sometimes. And he drools alot! We still love him though. 

In other news, Coco's is overweight! She weighed 3.5 kl yesterday, 0.5  kl more than she usually weighs. Her body looks like a barrel too!

HK Food Post: Hui Lau Shan

I'll be posting food tidbits of my Hong Kong trip in random along with the usual beauty posts. Here is the first installment of the Food Series, my Hui Lau Shan experience.

Hui Lau Shan is a popular dessert chain in Hong Kong, specializing in mango desserts. Based on the crates of mango that I saw and word from my cousin who lives there, Hui Lau Shan imports their mangoes from the Philippines. The preferred cultivar is the Carabao mango. As a testament to the deliciousness of the Philippine Carabao mango, almost every dish served there is made from the sweet and juicy fruit. 

My favorite, Mango Pudding! Served with fresh fruits and mango sherbet

I ordered my favorite mango pudding. Since my mother was full and felt like she could not finish her own order of whatever, we selected Mango Pudding with Fresh Fruits at HKD 35. Served in a pretty heart-shaped dish, yummy mango pudding came with a scoop of mango sherbet and slices and scoops of fruit: kiwi, strawberry, melon, watermelon, melon dew and a cheek of mango, topped with some mango sauce.

The pudding took a while, since everything else had to be scooped and sliced as the order came, and since there were sooo many people eating at this shop. The texture of the sherbet was wonderful, and the fruits were indeed fresh. The star of the dish is still the pudding. It was the perfect blend of jiggly, creamy and bite. I can't describe in words how wonderful this pudding is. (Yes, pudding makes me very happy!) I was tempted to purchase the bigger one pound tub to take home, but we were already overweight. And I wasn't sure how it would fare being lugged from one country to another. 

It reminds me, I attempted to make my own mango pudding before. It passed as edible. But it does not compare to Hui Lau Shan's. So yummy! Hui Lau Shan can be found all over HK. It's the HK equivalent of Jamba Juice in the US and the froyo shops here in PI. Yummy!

I was Gone...

And now I'm back! I've been gone for a few days, and I'd like to say that my experience has been both extra hectic and super exciting at the same time. Highlights include:

1. New (and old) beauty stuff!
2. Was bitched at by my aunt and getting major major pissed off (resulting to my Twitter status: Bitch, stop chewing me out and mind your own fucking business. Clean up your own shit and fuck off.)
3. A few clothes
4. Getting hustled from one restaurant to another, getting my face stuffed with so much food from morning 'til midnight (Yummy!!)
5. Seeing so many drunk Cantonese and Macanese, and getting suffocated by cigarette smoke
6. EDIT: No online access for those days nearly killed me. I had like, 2 hours of internet use. The whole time I was there.
7. A new baby!

I will be making more posts about these soon. I'll try not to rant about my aunt anymore, seeing that one day, I hopefully will not have to deal with her anymore. Negativity out, good and beautiful things in!