Duchess of KAYmbridge: Cupcake Party

Duchess of KAYmbridge: Cupcake Party: What's more fun than eating cupcakes ? Having a cupcake party !!! At BabyCakes , we can help you throw a perfect cupcake party for your...

Cupcake Party

What's more fun than eating cupcakes ? Having a cupcake party !!! At BabyCakes , we can help you throw a perfect cupcake party for your little girl . From the cakes to the games and giveaways , we make sure that everything will be as sweet as the celebrant.A cupcake party wouldn't be complete without a cupcake and cookie decorating contest . The kids had fun letting lose their creative juices ! We then asked the celebrant to chose among her friends' creations the winner of the contest . Everyone was a good sport and they each got to take home their lovely creations to show to mom and dad . Here's a peek at Brianna's cupcake party , celebrated at BabyCakes , ofcourse !

We decorated the place with huge cupcake balloons !

Cute and colorful place setting

Cupcake birthday cake and cookies.

Melba toast with smoked fish dip for the adults.

Check out their cute cupcake party bags filled with goodies !

Smiling , happy faces !

Heavenly Samal Island

Samal Island is best known for it's pristine white sand beaches and the abundance of marine life . It is therefore a must stop for any tourist who wish to bask in the glory of the sun and the sea . I personally prefer hiring a pump boat and bringing my friends around Samal island , stopping from one beach to another rather than staying in just one resort . This way , my friends can explore different parts of the island and enjoy it's many treasures .

This is how a typical pump boat looks like . It is quite fast and it's equipped with a toilet , life vests, tables and benches and is manned by a captain and 2 deck crew . Renting a boat like this is the way to go if you want a fun filled , hassle free day at the beach .

Island Garden City of Samal is actually made up of 1 big island and several small islands . It is just a 7 - 10 mins. boat ride from Davao city to it's nearest port.

This small fishing boat is called a "bangka" . This is a common sight is Samal , you can buy fish from these fishermen and grill the fish on the boat . Fresh fish for lunch , anyone? :)

The boat is also equipped with a roof deck , a perfect spot for sunbathing , sight seeing or picture taking . My childhood friend Katy and I decided to forgo the sunbathing and settle for the picture taking instead ! Ha!ha!ha!

A nice shot of the corals at the coral garden . This is a nice spot for snorkeling since the area, wich stretches for several kilometers is abundant with colorful marine life . The corals look much more vibrant and alive underwater . Definitely one of mother nature's many wonders .

Grilled ribs for lunch , a favorite "day-at -the - beach " fare.

Enjoying the view and the breeze at Babu Santa , one of our several pitt-stops.

I love this shot , everyone is busy looking for "treasure " .

Coconut juice harvested on the spot ! There are coconut climbers waiting to do your bidding . If it's fresh coconut juice you want , these are your guys ! :)

Personalized service from a couple of coconut climbers , we call them "mananggete" in Visayan . They harvest the buko for you and they even deliver to your boat ! How's that for service de luxe ?

A refreshing drink on a hot day .

After drinking the juice , you can split the shell open and eat the meat .

The crystal clear water beckons , how can I resist ?

Duchess of KAYmbridge: Loving Anthropologie

Duchess of KAYmbridge: Loving Anthropologie: I L-O-V-E Anthropologie , love it ! I think most if not all of their stuff are interesting and super cool . Everytime I browse through t...

Loving Anthropologie

I L-O-V-E Anthropologie , love it ! I think most if not all of their stuff are interesting and super cool . Everytime I browse through their website , I end up loading my cart with too many stuff and find myself way over my budget ! This time was no different , I had to cut down dramaticaaly on my orders . Some stuff , I just couldn't pass up . Let me share my choices with you .

I like this mug as well as the other one on top . I can picture myself sipping my morning coffee from this mug , something as cheerful as this would surely brighten anybody's day .

How cute is this owl cookie jar ? It looks so adorable , like it's totally willing to keep my secret as I steal another chocolate chip cookie from it's belly .

These Francophile plates look good in the wall or on the table . They look sturdy and fun ! My kids would totally enjoy eating their meals from these plates . What do you think of my choices ? Aren't they pretty ? Now all I need to do is place my order , I'm sooo excited !

Viva Paella !

Sorry for my silence , the past week has been CRAZY ! In between tutoring my daughter for her exams and catering to my customers demands , I also had to play nurse to my husband who was down with the flu . There was barely any time left for moi , so my dear friends blogging had to take the back seat while my full attention was focused on my family and business . However , I'm back and I'm looking forward to a much better week ahead of me . Since I mentioned that my husband was sick , I feel like I want to share with you a little something about this wonderful man . He is a man of action . He likes to keep himself busy with work , with some project of some sort , with his hobbies or his sports , etc . You would rarely find him idle . Actually , if ever you do find him idle then he's probably sick . Which is what he was last week and which is why it was so hard for him to just stay in the house and rest . Monday , he found himself with fever . He took some medication , lots of fluids and time off from work to rest . Tuesday , his fever went down and since he was " feeling much better " , he decided to go to the office in the morning and bike around the village in the afternoon to "sweat out " whatever fever was left . Wednesday , his fever was back with a vengeance ! By Thursday , I was able to convince him to go to a doctor for a medical check-up to rule out Dengue ( thank goodness the result for dengue was negative ! ) . The doctor's diagnosis : he had the flu , the doctor's orders : lots of rest , lots of fluids and meds. for fever as needed . So it was back to bed for him for te next three days . He was not a happy patient by the way , all this inactivity made him grouchy . My cure for grouchiness is usually food . I find that cooking my husband's comfort food never fails to put him back in a good mood . This time he requested for paella . My recipe for paella is actually my mother's and she taught this recipe to me way back when I was in high school . This is one of those dishes that I can do with my eyes closed . Let me share with you my recipe .

You will need: 1 kilo chicken thighs marinated with soy sauce for 30 mins. , 3 cups japanese rice , green peas , 2 pcs, chorizo Bilbao sliced , red bell peppers sliced into thin strips , 1 carrot cubed , 1/2 kilo beef sliced thinly OR 3 pcs. chorizo Bilbao sliced diagonally ( I prefer using the chorizo Bilbao ) , prawns or shrimps ( quantity depends on your preference ) , Paella yellow food coloring , spanish paprika , 4 cups chicken broth , saffron , 4 pcs , hard boiled eggs ( quartered) , 2 lemons ( quartered ) , olive oil , salt and pepper to taste , 1 whole garlic chopped , 1 onion chopped , 4 tomatoes chopped . Procedure : Heat olive oil in a paellera or whatever pan you have that's big enough to hold the rice . When oil is hot enough , fry the chicken thighs until golden brown . Remove the chicken from the pan and save for later . Sautee garlic , onions and tomatoes , add the red bell peppers , carrots ,green peas , beef , chorizo Bilbao and the pre -cooked chicken, continue to sautee until all the ingredients are mixed well then add a few threads of saffron , 2 tsp. spanish paprika , 1 tsp . yellow food color , salt and pepper to taste . Add the rice followed by the chicken broth . Cover the pan with aluminum foil and let the rice cook . I do not transfer the paellera on the oven , I just let it cook on the stove top mixing the rice every 10 minutes or so ( not to worry if you find some burnt rice at the bottom of your paellera , this is to be expected ) . When the rice is cooked ( it usually takes the rice 40 mins . to cook ) , I arrange the prawns on top of the rice and cover the paellera again with aluminum foil until the prawns are cooked . Just before serving , I arrange the eggs and the lemons on top of the rice and Voila ! paella is served !!

Meeting Baby Ruth

The best sweet and sour pork that I've tasted .

Eight Wonders chicken

Inside the Eight Wonders Chicken

Shrimp stuffed sea cucumber

Last friday started out as any regular day . I did my errands , got busy at Baby Cakes, etc, etc, . I had no clue that this day would turn out to be a very interesting day afterall. You see , this was the day when I came face to face with a true blue "foodie" . I know several people who love food and who cook well , my mom included . However, nobody I know comes close to Baby Ruth . Yep , like the candy which incidentally was my favorite when I was growing up ( my preference in chocolate has since moved on to the more sophisticated kind , wink ,wink ! ). Baby Ruth was introduced to me by a good friend , she was here in Davao to take part in the Kadayawan festival and interview a local personality who is spearheading a very noble coffee project . She was introduced to me as a contributor for Mabuhay magazine , the in - flight magazine of Philippine Airlines . I would soon discover that she is much more than that .We talked for a while , she tried some of our pastries and a few minutes later ,my sis-in-law and I found ourselves being invited to join her for dinner at the Lotus Court of the Marco Polo hotel . I wasn't so sure that the invitation was sincere cuz hey , it's not everyday when you get invited by a new acquaintance to anywhere . However , she insisted and we just could't resist her easy , open , friendly manner so we accepted and agreed to meet at 7pm . A few hours later I found myself at Lotus Court face to face with a delectable plate of sweet jellyfish , thin almost fatless roasted pork skin , Asado pork and some other thing I couldn't remember the name of . I dimly recall Baby Ruth telling us that the jellyfish was nicely done and that it was as good as the other's that she's tasted in Chinese resaturants in Manila . I could only nod at this commentary and roll my eyes as soon as the jellyfish hit my tongue . What the ? UHMMMM ! THIS WAS REALLY GOOD !!! I had to stop myself from attacking the rest of the jellyfish which was a good thing too cuz after the appetizer came the soup then the salted fish fried rice then my head just went on a tailspin as I lost track of the food that kept on coming to our table non- stop ! How will the five of us ever finish all these food ?! I shrugged my shoulders and continued eating SLOWLY , marvelling at the dishes that Baby Ruth ordered . Apart from the sweet and sour pork and the dessert , these were dishes that I would normally have considered too exotic for my taste . Boy have I been missing a lot ! All throughout dinner , Baby Ruth was entertaining us with stories about food . How that particular dish was prepared , how this particular dish was supposed to be prepared , where to have the best Hainanese Chicken rice , the best tofu , her countless experiences with food and everything that is connected to food . It was like I was transported to another world . A world populated by people who are passionate about food . A world where only the best food with the best ingredients exist . I would often wonder what good food tastes like for chef's like Anthony Bourdain or Tom Colicchio . I now have a pretty good idea . I listened on while Baby Ruth talked to Chef Gary ( the Lotus Court chef who is also her friend ) giving him insightful and sincere feedback about the different dishes in front of us . There was nothing put on or mean or condescending about her when she gives her opinion on a particular dish . You can sense that her comments are intelligent , developed only by a person who is truly passionate about food and wants to share this with others . My digestive system would attest to the fact that it was THE best meal that I have ever had at the LOTUS COURT . I would sometimes have lunch there with my husband but we normally limit ourselves to ordering Dimsum since we are fans of what is familiar and we seldom venture into the unknown .... culinary wise . This meal was a pleasant surprise , it was like Christmas were I would open box after box of presents and the next is always better than the previous one . THE BEST GIFT that night however was Baby Ruth . Her gift of friendship and camaraderie is indeed more precious than any rare spice available in the far reaches of the Orient . If I have to think of only one word to describe her , it would be GENEROUS . She is super generous with her time , her knowledge , her contagious laughter , her friendship ...... herself . It was nice meeting you Baby Ruth ! I'm glad to have made your acquaintance , looking forward to Sept. 2 ! :)

Goodbye Jill

People say that you never appreciate the value of someone or something until they are gone . I realized how true this was when our dear old Jack Russel died unexpectedly a few days ago . We got Jill 9 years ago for her sniffing and rat killing talents . This was way back when we were still renting a small comfy house in a nice subdivision . Everything was nice and perfect , the location was ideal ( close to shopping malls , church , market , school etc . ) , the neighbors were friendly and the neighborhood was generally peaceful and quiet . There was only one MAJOR drawback .... the RATS ! Our house was located along the perimeter fence of the subdivision and beyond the fence was a vacant lot used as a vegetable plot . I'm convinced that this vacant lot has been taken over by rats .... yes , conquered and ruled and all that ! It didn't take long before these greedy pests decided that they had to conquer OUR lot as well ! In comes Jill , our hero . And boy what a hero she was ! I saw her in action once and I must admit that it wasn't a pretty sight but boy oh boy , I was impressed ! I will ofcourse spare you the details . :) She was so good at eliminating the rats that in a matter of few months , rats bacame a thing of the past . A distant , ugly memory . Jill however was still out for some blood so her next target ( to our horror and embarassment ! ) were our neighbors' chickens . It took all of my diplomatic skills to pacify our neighbor and all of my very limited dog training skills to tame Jill . On hindsight , training Jill was probably 5% me and 95% Jill's own doing . She was so smart , she probably figured out by herself that she had more to gain by following me . After my son was born , we transferred to our own home . Ofcourse , Jill came with us . She was around 4 years old by this time , not old but not so young either. She was still hyperactive and smart and she still gave the occassional field mouse a heart attack just by her snarl . However , I noticed that she was getting frustrated from lack of stimulation or probably lack of excitement . Our new place is far more civilized than the previous one and I presume that the highlight of a dog's day is the walk around the park strutting their wares for all the other dog's to see . Now Jill is an exeption , she was a rebel among dogs . When dog's would be walking by with their pretty leashes and cell phone toting yaya's , Jill would be running leash free AND yaya free . A true rebel indeed ! As any frustrated dog would tell you , all this frustration needed an outlet . Jill's choice was my garden . This would prove to be the boon of our relationship . She would dig , dig , and dig all the way to China it seems . I on the other hand would get mad , madder , maddest !!! Eventually , I gave up and just decided to plant my most precious flowers in pots , so she wouldn't be able to dig them . As the years passed , Jill became calmer and we figured it was due to her advancing age . My kids had some memorable moments with her when she was content just playing with them instead of grabbing their toys and jumping incessantly until YOU get tired just by watching her . Then last year in came Ali, our new dog . All our attention was directed at Ali and I must admit that I am guilty of neglecting Jill in some ways . How I wish I knew she didn't have a lot of days left to share with us . I would have played with her more , given her the best bones , fed her the tastiest dog food I could find and given her more , much more attention than I did , I know though that "what if's " and "would have's " are a fool's words . I should find comfort instead in the knowledge that Jill and I had our special moments together . She has been a loyal dog to my family and in her own special way she has given us much joy . I finally decided to bury her in my garden . On the same spot where I used to find her digging like mad . I just wish that wherever she is , she would have finally found what she was digging for . Goddbye my ever loyal friend .... thanks for the memories !

My home in Instagram

My happy Buddha 

Madonna and child near the front door

I 

Welcome !

I love the "cathedral" window by the stairwell . It let's in a lot of sunshine every day .

I have a lot of oriental stuff in our home . I actually  wanted a shabby chic  look  for our home but my husband and I inherited a lot of furnitures from both  our families that is of the Filipino and Oriental style . So  I found myself gravitating towards Orientalia when I started buying  decors .  Nevertheless,  I still manage to indulge my shabby chic fantasy  . I discovered that mixing some shabby chic  pieces with orientalia makes it more interesting .

I found myself with a bit of free time on my hands this morning  and decided to experiment some more on the Instagram . There I was clicking away , completely giddy with this new "toy" that I discovered . This time the subject that I chose was my house . Actually , I didn't have much choice since my kids were in school and our dog was in diva mode. I guess he was not ready for his close up today . So I was stuck with something that doesn't move and doesn't complain .... ever ! A perfect subject , wouldn't you say ? 30 mins. later I found myself with these photos . I actually find some of these photos a bit creepy , what do YOU think ?

Discovering Instagram

Isn't he adorable?

Taking a break from studying

The serious pose .

My son happily  told me this morning  that he got a perfect score on his Math exam . Wahoo ! All his hardwork paid off ! He feels so proud of himself , he  told his lolo, lola and friends about it ! :) I'm so happy for you Tomas !



A photo of moi in Instagram

 Studying is no fun !  This was how I felt growing up . I remember dreading to go to school every morning and  wishing to all the saints and stars that I would get sick so that I would have a reason NOT to go to school . The only time I was happy was during History and Science , my two favorite subjects . History because even at young age , I was already nosy . I was interested with the past , different people , culture and places . Science because I was naturally curious about the world around me . How about the other subjects ? I hated Math soooo much I barely passed every quarter from grade 3 to 2nd year college ( thank God I didn't have any more Math subjects after that ). I  enjoyed English only when I was in 3rd year high school thanks  to Jane Austen and to  my all time favorite teacher , Mrs. Baldovino who was the best teacher I ever had . To this day my love for English literature endures, thank you Ma'am ! Luckily , I discovered the world of crushes and puppy love in high school , going to school meant seeing my crush . That made me want to go to school every day and it also inspired me to do better in my studies cuz I thought that doing well might impress my crush . He,he,he. It was only in college when my outlook towards school and learning changed . Maybe it was because at this point I have outgrown some of my insecurities , or maybe because I thought that this was a new beginning for me and I was determined to be a better student , I'm not really sure . But things got a lot better for me then , I even ended up recieving a medal when I graduated , ehem .   Anyway , I promised myself that my kids would have a totally different experience from mine when it comes to schooling . I was certain that if they started school prepared and confident with  their skills , they wouldn't be plagued with insecurities like I was .  It was these insecurities that kept me from doing well , so I wanted my kids armed with the correct tools that would enable them to perform better than I did . It is this belief that inspires me to teach them and  help them with their school work  no matter how tired or busy I am . Hence the past few days , all my energies where focused on tutoring my son and helping him get ready for his exams .  However , no matter how serious we were with the reviews I made sure to inject some fun moments here and there and take a break from the tediousness of it all . One of our fun moments was goofing around with the Instagram which I recently discovered through Yvestown and Daphne Osena - Paez's blog .  Instagram is a great way to add texture and mood to your photo's  , I enjoyed experimenting so much I took LOTS of photo's just for the fun of it . Too bad it's only available for iphone :( . Here are some of my photo's worthy of sharing !

The flowers of Kadayawan festival 2011

I always found the Catleya to be elegant . This purple one is no exeption .

If people in the west buy new plants and revive their gardens during the spring , I do mine during the month of August . Not that my garden needs reviving since I live in the tropics and my plants pretty much stays alive most of the time . However , it definitely needs a little sprucing up to give it that "fresh" vibe . I usually get tired at looking at the same colors month after month , so a little change is always welcome . The month of August is the month of the Kadayawan festival . It is a thanksgiving festival for good harvest. One of the festival's events is the Kadayawan plant exhibit at the SM Mall of Davao parking lot. Different nurseries from around Davao city and it's neighboring towns showcase their plants and flowers at the exhibit . It is usually the venue for the horticulturists to display  new varieties of plants , flowers and trees. I found myself visiting the exhibit bright and early last sunday . I wanted to avoid the heat and the traffic . Like a little girl at a candy shop , I eagerly looked around and got overwhelmed by the countless choices on display . Since I love colors , I headed straight for the flowering varieties  and found myself surrounded by different orchids , bromeliads , roses , variegated bougainvillas , hybrid hibiscus , yellowbells , bluebells , violets ..... ohhhhh the numerous choices made my head spin ! I traipsed around the aisle checking out one stall after the other , exchanging friendly greetings with several familiar faces . Pretty soon , I found myself caught up in the vibrant colors and the heady fragrance of the flowers . I had to supress the impulse of closing my eyes and imagining myself in a tropical paradise surrounded by exotic flowers ( a picture of Bali Hai comes to mind ) , lests I give and impression to the exhibitors  that I've gone loco  . After much deliberation , I finally settled for some orchids , bromeliads , a few herbs to add to my collection and a cinnamon tree.                                            

Another purple orchid . :)

Have I mentioned how I love purple or violet colored flowers ? This one is a bromeliad.

More flowers !

What do you think of these beauties ?

Duchess of KAYmbridge: Plants vs. Zombies cake

Duchess of KAYmbridge: Plants vs. Zombies cake: "Check out the Michael Jackson zombie  ! Have a brain-y birthday ! Let me share with you the Plants vs. Zombies cake and cupcakes th..."

Plants vs. Zombies cake

Check out the Michael Jackson zombie  !

Have a brain-y birthday !

Let me share with you the Plants vs. Zombies cake and cupcakes that I made last week  . It was made with moist chocolate cake and buttercream icing . The cupcake toppers were made with royal icing that was dried for 3 days . I used Wilton star tip # 16 , 17, and 19 for the cake decoration .  I think the celebrant had a brain-y birthday indeed !