In Search for a Cure

In search for a cure on my condition, not actually cure because I know there isn't, but to lessen the flareups, I will be trying Liveraide silymarin capsule (or milk thistle). My family and I have been doing this for many years now....searching and searching and researching.....I've researched about this on the internet, all about silymarin or milk thistle.  They say that an unhealthy liver is associated with a weakened immune system, and psoriasis is an autoimmune disorder as we know so if my immune system is down,  flareup is most likely to occur. It will be my day 1 tonight...hoping for the best and wish me luck! I hope it has no adverse side effects. Let's see if it will really help me....

The Now Expensive Mestiza Papaya Soap

I went to Mercury Drugstore yesterday to purchase our family's favorite papaya soap, not because we're using it because just like others out there wanna have fair skin but rather for health reason.  As a psoriatic person, I have a very sensitive skin and I always have to be careful on what I apply or use on my skin for it can aggravate my psoriasis. BTW I have been a psoriasis patient for 10 years now....I use this papaya soap because among other papaya soap, it does not make my skin dry.

Mestiza Papaya soap had been introduced to me by my uncle because his friend works on the said papaya soap company....At first I was quite hesitant to use it because as I can remember I was not really familiar with the product and I was not really into papaya soap at that time. The only papaya soap that I knew then was Likas Papaya soap but I was not a fan either because from my experience papaya soaps dry out the skin and that's bad for me... Anyway a couple of years ago, the soap was just a newbie in the market. You can only buy it at Mercury Drugstore..FYI...

I was surprised yesterday about its price increase...a 10-peso price increase....When I first used it, it wasn't that expensive..I think it was only 40 pesos at that time..I usually buy 5 for 200 pesos...and at that time you can't easily find the soap on the top shelf.  You have to kneel down because you can find that on the lowest part of the shelf and even if you're already kneeling down,  you have to stretch your body a bit more because it's on the innermost portion of the shelf hahaha... funny right? That's because it was not that popular or a top seller then.

Then after a year I guess,  it had been featured on various TV shows, etc..then its price went up from 40 pesos to 42 pesos....then after just a month after my last purchase in January..it's now 50 pesos...why is that? Is it because it's "sikat" already? maybe....

Well really I can't do anything about it. I was just surprised really by the super dooper price increase....Well blame it on marketing and advertisement....they do that also on medicines here.....

Anyway, hope my papaya soap will stay 50 pesos forever..for higher than that...I think that's too much...

Red Velvet Cupcakes for Ogie

On March 24, we went to Majayjay to pray for lolo's soul because it was his 40th day after death and at the same time,  it's my cousin Ogie's birthday so I baked cupcakes for him. He celebrated his birthday also in Majayjay because the 2 occasions fell on the same day.

I made red velvet cupcakes for him.This was my first try and thank God they liked it especially my cousin (I guess) hehe!

Just wanna thank also Beth, (my brother's wife) for the choco sprinkles that she gave me just before she went back to Norway.

More birthdays to come my dear cousin. I love you..No more dengue please...

Korean Lunch with Kuya

Today's the last day of kuya and his family here in manila. They're flying back to Norway and we'll be seeing him soon, maybe by December of this year again. So we had a mini despedida before he headed back to Norway.

We went to a Korean restaurant in Alabang Filinvest. The initial plan was to go to Tagaytay at Raja but we've decided to just go to a Korean resto just around Alabang since Raja in Tagaytay serves almost the same menu as in Alabang.

We went to Sogamiga Restaurant, a Korean restaurant. The restaurant looks old if you can notice how it was constructed, but I think it was intentionally done to look like that,  just like the ones in Korea.

and here's the korean grill table...nice...it's my first time..I'm just  seeing this one in Koreanovelas.

 I wasn't able to take a picture during actual cooking of the wagyu beef and the stew 'coz we have kids with us..It had been cooked on another table so as to avoid accident to happen.

This was our first set of appetizer...lettuce with this Korean dip (tastes like bagoong with chili) and it tasted good..didn't know that you could actually eat a lettuce with a dip or dressing like bagoong..

and the main dish...the grilled korean wagyu beef...tastes good without added condiments or flavorings....you can actually taste the natural sweetness and smell of the grilled beef...yum!

and here are the rest of the side dishes we ate...almost all were veggies as you can see...but surprisingly you'll like it...what I've noticed was that Koreans are really really good in making sauces, dips and dressings to make boring veggies for others to really taste good and look appetizing...am beginning to love Korean food already...

there's kimchi, steamed Chinese kangkong, sweet potato, macaroni salad and spring onions with chili love it!

here's the 2nd main dish that we ordered...the short ribs.. you can say it's "simple pero rock!" hehe!..love the sweetness of the beef and the smell of the soup...it has vermicelli, onion and leeks I guess in it...

This is a rice wine...my sisters and I tried it 'coz we got intrigued and curious how it tastes...'coz we only see it on Koreanovelas...so we decided to might as well try it ourselves....and it's "lakas tama man!" seriously...I only had half a cup of this one..I think about 3 oz. and I really felt hot and sleepy after...but it tasted almost like Cali Shandy but has stronger alcohol content I guess..

So after lunch, we headed to the nearest Starbucks coffee shop because "gala" won't be complete without having coffee after a heavy meal...

Surely, I will miss my brother and my really really cute niece...they'll probably be back before Christmas..hopefully...and it feels good really to have gimik with your family...it'spriceless!

B-Gone Mosquitoes

I've discovered a new mosquito repellent for Elijah accidentally as we were sitting, waiting for our turn at the hospital waiting room for his checkup. As we were waiting, I noticed a DOH anti-dengue campaign poster posted on the doctor's secretary's desk and saw this product. I got interested 'coz I'm really planning to switch to a new insect repellent for I used to purchase an Indigo repellent but then I've noticed that it was not effective for Elijah anymore for every morning when I wake up, I can still see mosquito bites on his skin and I'm a bit worried and paranoid about dengue really. So after the consultation, I purchased one and might as well give it a try. So far, I'm satisfied on its effectivity and it says also on the label that it not only act as a repellent, it also gives relief to skin problems such as itch, small lesions, etc. and I've noticed that it has a more lasting effect than the Indigo repellent. Thanks to this new discovery.

Grilla from Dadad with Love

I received this as a gift from my husband a couple of weeks ago because he knows that I love grilling.

Since I am a working mom, I usually cook for myself and for my kid only, because my husband doesn't usually eat at home 'coz he works in a restaurant and employees' meal are provided there already. I wished for an indoor grill only to know that there's really one available in malls haha!

Thanks to Imarflex smokeless grill..now I can grill inside my home....woot woot!
Thanks again dadad!

Eye brush and eyeshadow powder

Yesterday, I went to Watson's to look for a shampoo but instead, found these 2 items..

 

Actually, I've been looking for a nice but not so expensive blending brush so I went to Watson's and found this cute brush. It's an E.L.F. brush (Eye, lips, and face). I used it this morning and was actually satisfied on it.

So as I was about to leave the store, I passed by a stall called IN2IT and realized that I last purchased my eyebrow pencil a year ago and it's already blunt so I purchased not a pencil but instead tried something else, an eyebrow powder now...I applied it this morning and I found it nice and natural looking..but still next payday I'll buy a pencil too lol!

So far I have quite a few brushes in my collection...

Love it!

Cheesecake and Cupcakes

It feels good to bake for friends and bake for the family..for that's what I love doing..baking...that everytime I bake, if it's being appreciated by friends and friends of friends that's music to my ears and feels like heaven to me.

I am now in the process of turning my hobby into business...slowly, my husband and I are introducing them to friends and now we are on the stage of referrals from friends of friends, etc...I am really dreaming on having a cake shop in the near future but I know that would take a lot of planning and courage.

I've realized that even though you've been baking and doing the same thing a number of times already, there would come a time that sometimes you will fail...I felt bad yesterday 'coz I got an order from a friend and referred me also to her friends and told me that they would make a purchase of cheesecakes and cupcakes. So I accepted the orders. I was too happy 'coz I got lots of orders from them so I baked the cheesecakes only to know that 4 hours before the said meetup, the cheesecake didn't harden 'coz I was preoccupied with other things the time that I was doing the cake and I forgot to add the hardening agent. So I rushed to the supermarket to restart all over again and make another set of cheesecakes. Then, I made it on time....

The bad-luck day didn't end with just the cheesecake...When we delivered the baked goods to the meeting place, my friend opened the box to inspect the cakes only to find out that the cupcakes slid out of their holders and some were ruined...I almost cringed in shame at that very moment...I just apologized for what happened and promised my friend to give her cupcakes for free on  her next order just to get myself out of that shame....oh really I felt bad..

I've realized now that really you'll go through a lot of trials before you can establish your business or reach perfection on what you do...Now, it's time for me to move on and keep depression out of my system..Let's just say that it's a lesson learned...now learn from those mistakes...pick up the pieces and move on.

Here are the cupcake pictures just before the "kamalasan." A memorable one for me...indeed....whew! But again Thank you Dear God!

Goldilocks Cake Expo 2011

 I wanna attend this once in a lifetime expo...been wanting to attend a Wilton class but due to conflict in schedule and budget constraint, I guess I'll just go to the expo and just watch the exhibits and be inspired..hope someday my cakes would be one of those displayed there lol!

Hope I can get to the event on time....

The Guinness Cake

I have always been a big fan of Nigella Lawson....I love the way she cooks for her family and friends and how she loves entertaining guests. I also love her kitchen and her storage room...hoping that someday I will have my dream kitchen also..I'm glad that most of the ingredients in her TV show are available here in the Philippines..One that I tried baking was the Guinness Cake..It's a simple and easy cake to do but heavenly delicious. I promise! lol!

The picture was taken after it was served already to my surprise visitors so before I had the opportunity to frost it nicely, my visitors were already in our house and the cake had been consumed by almost half already, but I'm happy to say that they loved it, and appreciation for it was more than enough for me already plus the fact that I love visitors and cooking for them.

I'm looking forward to doing more of Nigella's simple but heavenly cakes and dishes...