Jane’s Kitchen

I probably would not post anything about Jane’s recipes anymore on this blog after this. Not that she won’t be doing any cooking anymore. In fact, she will continue to prepare delicious meals for the family. It’s just that we have a different venue to share them, her own blog! Entitled Jane’s Kitchen, it features easy-to-follow and kitchen-tested recipes.

A Screenshot of Jane's Blog

Looking back, when she moved to Singapore after our wedding, she didn’t know much about cooking. She would contact her mother about certain dishes and follow some through the internet. Little did she (and I) know that she had a flair for the culinary arts.

So kudos to my wife! And let there be many more recipes and blog entries to come!

Jump Shots

I never knew that doing jump shots can be this fun!

A few Sundays back, our team at Pinoy Connection celebrated our victory with an “eat-out” and “get together” fellowship which was held at the Lower Seletar Reservoir Park. After the church service, we just bought fast food for our snacks or should I say late lunch. We also had impromptu fun games like Strawberry Relay and an Eating Contest. Although there were dark clouds and a big possibility of rain earlier at noon, it turned out to be a beautiful Sunday afternoon. It was windy and the weather was just perfect.

After eating and a few chit-chats, we did some picture-taking and of course, as the title suggests, we did jump shots! And boy it was fun! I guess everybody enjoyed it especially little Ashrie.

One, two, three… JUMP!

Pinoy Connection

Just noticed that our picture was included in Evangel’s photo slideshow for the Filipino Fellowship spread on their website. This was taken at the bus shelter in front of the church, while waiting for the shuttle bus going to Sentosa last year.

By the way, if you are interested to join us in Pinoy Connection, we are meeting as a group once every two months. Or if you wish to attend any of Evangel Family Church’s gatherings, be sure to visit this website.

Hope to see you there!

Birdie's Big-Girl Dress

If this is not the ultimate children’s book for little fashionistas, I don’t know what is! Of all the books we have read to Ashrie (which would probably count more than a hundred titles since her birth), this is one-of-a-kind!

It’s a story about Birdie and her quest to find a birthday dress. Her mom brought her to their favorite boutique but nothing fits her right to do the things she wants on her party. So they went home empty-handed, only to found out that she can create the perfect dress using her grandparents’ old clothes in the attic! Well, fashion runs in the family, I must say.

Obviously written for the kids of the rich, this book is filled with pages of colorful painted sketches and magazine cut-out illustrations. Make sure you highlight the positive values in the story when you tell it to your kids, which is being resourceful and frugal and drop the materialistic aspect of the book.

And why is the girl named Birdie by the way?

We have yet to read her first book.

Crocodaddy

Here’s another good read especially for Fathers who have sons. But I think little girls would also enjoy listening to the story. Just the idea of a little boy jumping on a croc’s back would sure delight and excite them, more so with the colorful and cleverly illustrated pages of this book by Kim Norman.

It’s about a dad and his son as they go on a swimming trip one day. The son is pretending that his dad is a crocodile and that he is on a croc hunt. But all the while in the story, all we see is a huge croc wearing Daddy’s shorts! The story effectively harnessed the power of a child’s imagination and the sweet bond of the Father and the son.

Makes me remember a story which happened probably months before Ashrie turned three…

Ashrie was playing inside our bedroom. She said she was building a sand castle. Later, she asked her mom for a pail! Her mom said no. There were about three rounds of this “asking” and “saying no” until her mom exclaimed, “Ashrie, just pretend.” She said, “But I AM pretending”!

The power of a child’s imagination.



Ball Swim

I cannot remember that I did any “ball swims” when I’m a kid, probably because there is nothing of that sort during my time. My childhood was filled with fond memories of traditional games, when we come home wearing dirty clothes, dust-covered feet (or should I say bodies), and most of the time with broken flip flops!

And while the kid of the 80’s roll on dirt or piles of sand, the kids of today swim on colored plastic balls. Not only does it feel better (I think), it also looks good on photographs.

Hurray for ball swims!

Filipiniana

Mabuhay!

The Pinoy Connection celebrated the Philippine Independence last Sunday with the theme Rediscover PH.

The group was divided into three teams- Red, White, and Blue. We belong to the third, the Blue Team. And each team was given at least a month to prepare a presentation for this day promoting one of the Philippine's three major islands, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

We were assigned to promote the Mindanaoan Island, so we conceptualized an ethnic-themed presentation comprised of songs, traditional and street dance, acrostic and a little bit of gymnastics. We even recorded our own musical score.

Here are some group photos with our props. The PILIPINAS acrostic would display the Philippine flag when the boards are reversed. An old school trick but the audience still loved it!

Blue Team during the actual presentation

Jane sang an acapella of Sambahin Ka O Yahweh, a Tagalog praise and worship song as the introduction, her first in Evangel. I'm sure it won't be the last.

We were awarded the 2nd Place! The prize money would be used as our team celebrates the end of a month-long, weekend practices next Sunday.

But the highlight of this post is Ashrie's first time to be dressed in a Filipiniana costume. This means so much to us to see her sporting the "terno".

We actually bought the dress at Lucky Plaza because time was not enough to ask our folks back home to send a parcel. We also did a major alteration because the stores didn't carry her size. But as they say, all's well that ends well. Here is our little miss.

Hanggang sa muli!

Pavlova

Dating back from the 1920's, and named after the great Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova, this dessert has been loved by millions with its lightness, subtle sweetness, and the simplicity of the recipe. It's a meringue-based dessert with cream and fruit topping. A successful pavlova has a meringue that is crisp on the outside and a soft, chewy, marshmallowy center. Both Australia and New Zealand claim ownership of the first dish creation but latest research shows it might probably be from the latter. But who cares, this dessert, beyond any shadow of a doubt, tastes just as heavenly as it sounds.

Many chefs fail in making the meringue beautiful, avoiding cracks. But as this dish has a cream frosting and fruit topping, it hides the flaws while making it look like a cake. So it's okay if the meringue cracks, as long as you make sure it tastes good.

Recently, Jane made this delicious dessert for the family to enjoy! And we really did, almost in one sitting! And glad to say that this dish has made it to the family menu.

I can't wait for the next serving!