for the love of food

I have gained almost15kg since my pregnancy! So, I seriously have to cut my carbs and fat to the minimum which is tough for me. For the first time, I had trouble with weight and I never once expected that I would have this much difficulty... especially not on my pregnancy where I thought I could go about eating everything there is for as long as it's safe. For the first times, I felt the depression of dieting. It doesn't feel good at all. Or maybe the hormones of my pregnancy makes it worse. But anyway, found the ultimate prize for me and my hubby as we go into this dieting together... an eat-all-you-can blow-out for our monthsaries! Looking forward to it already. And we got this 10 reastaurants to start with! Unfortunately, I don't think that we could start it this May since we've got visitors coming plus my birthday... which means that we could be eating a lot more than we should for several days. Reposting the Ten Best Value Buffets here.  10 Best Value-for-Money Buffets in Manila  Published: 2010-07-09 10:24:00 @ www.spot.ph Manila is no stranger to good buffets--overflowing, satisfying food that can fill platefuls to satisfy all kinds of cravings. Whether you're on the lookout for variety, value-for-money price tag or novelty, we give you a list of the best buffets you can find in the city (listed in no particular order) without paying five-star-hotel prices:    1. Yakimix Address: 2/F Forum Bldg. 270 Tomas Morato, Quezon City (385-7500, 332-8073); Hobbies of Asia, Macapagal Boulevard, Pasay City (387-8120, 387-8112); G/F SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City (385-7500) How much to shell out: P580 eat-all-you can on Saturdays and Sundays and P499 lunch-all-you-can from Mondays to Fridays; add P55 for drinks; children below 4 feet will be charged P380 only. A new player in the buffet business, Yakimix, which opened in 2009, gets a nod for its spacious dining area and their variety of Chinese and Japanese dishes on the buffet spread. The place gets extra points for the grilled meat choices and sushi selection, plus smokeless table grills that lets you dine happily without smelling like food.       2. KingOne Rotary Hotpot Address: M2-A Lower Hobbies of Asia, #8 Macapagal Ave., Pasay City (556-1370) How much to shell out: P479 for an eat-all-you-can and drink-all-you-can from Monday to Saturday; P529 for dinners, Sundays and holidays (without drinks), upgrade to drink-all-you-can for an additional P65 The appeal of KingOne Rotary Hotpot lies in the hotpot ingredients that roll by on a conveyor belt right beside your table. With over 90 ingredients to choose from, and six soup bases available (Satay Soup, Century Egg Wansoy Soup, Spicy Szechuan Soup, Plain Soup, Hong Kong Curry Soup, and Korean Kimchi Soup), hotpot fans will also get a free dish for every two eat-all-you-can meals availed. Choose from their Spare Ribs Salt and Pepper, Yang Chow Fried Rice, and the Oyster Cake to go with your hotpot meal. Remember: no sharing and no doggie bags, they charge P100 for leftovers.     3. Kamay Kainan Address: West Avenue, Quezon City (371-4659) ; Kalayaan Avenue corner Malamig Street, Quezon City (921-5904 ); Market! Market!, Taguig (889-9883); TriNoma Mall (435-0061, 916-7178) How much to shell out: P248 per person without drinks/ P295 per person with bottomless iced tea daily If an all-Pinoy buffet spread is on the agenda, you can't go wrong with the reasonably priced buffet at Kamay Kainan. Their 2-hour maximum stay rule may sway those who like to have leisurely meals, but the place still attracts those who love Filipino food classics: Lechon paksiw, fried bangus, fried tilapia, binagoongang baboy, papaitan, caldereta, menudo, beef steak, kare-kare, pork sinigang, beef nilaga, adobong pusit, inihaw na liempo, and steamed oysters     4. Cabalen Address: 67 West Avenue, Quezon City (372-3515); 3/L, Bridge way SM Megamall (633-1761); G/L Robinsons Place Manila (536-7987); 3/L Festival Mall, Muntinlupa   (809-6698); 2/L TriNoma Mall, Quezon City (901-3602); G/L, Glorietta 3, Makati City (893-9884); G/L SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City (556-4874) How much to shell out: P298 per person for lunch and dinner; P392 per person at the Glorietta, TriNoma Mall and SM Mall of Asia branches (for its Filipino, Chinese, and Japanese buffet) Appetizing Kapampangan food gets supersized with the daily buffet spread which includes sisig, biringhe (subject to availability), lechong paksiw, bopis, adobo, pancit bihon, grilled catfish and the spicy kind of dinuguan.      5. Brazil! Brazil! Address: Metrowalk, Meralco Avenue, Pasig City (638-6318), 1st level Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Drive cor. Estrella St., Makati City (899-0957); Serendra, Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig (856-0671) How much to shell out: P628 per person from Monday to Thursday; P777 per person from Fridays- Sundays. Enjoy a Brazilian meat-all-you can party at Brazil! Brazil! where, oddly, the only thing Brazilian is the barbeque or the churrasco. The slightly pricey buffet charge gets you endless skewers of barbeque which the servers bring to your table until you turn up the red side of the yoyo on your table which indicates "stop."  If you've had enough of the pork belly and tenderloin cuts, head to the central buffet area with appetizers, pasta, rice, and desserts.      6. Cafe Sweet Inspirations Address: 311 Katipunan Ave. Loyola Heights, Quezon City (433-4200) How much to shell out: P295 per person (available from 10 a.m.-10:45 p.m. daily) Known more for their pastries, this Katipunan Avenue spot also serves one of the best Mongolian buffets around. The all-day, eat-all-you-can spread indulges those who love to create their own stir-fry bowls. Expect the sauce at Cafe Sweet Inspirations, mixed in with your own concoction of meats, seafood and vegetables, to turn an ordinary hodgepodge of ingredients into a satisfying meal.     7. Dads/ Saisaki/ Kamayan Address: EDSA, San Juan; 2/F Glorietta 3, Ayala Center (892-8908); 4th level SM Megamall, EDSA cor. Julia Vargas Ave., Mandaluyong City (636-3785)   How much to shell out: P520 per person from Mondays to Thursdays for the lunch Crossover buffet (Dads, Saisaki and Kamayan) and P620 from Friday to Sunday; P620 per person for dinner; Saisaki lunch is at P480 from Mondays to Thursdays and P580 from Fridays to Sunday; Kamayan lunch and dinner is P350. For the selection and variety, the "ultimate buffet" by the Triple V group still remains a reliable buffet choice. With over 200 choices with Continental picks (Dads), Japanese food (Saisaki) and Filipino favorites (Kamayan), the place enjoys a steady stream of buffet eaters who love an all-out foodfest.     8. Tramway Tea House Address: 76 Sct. Alcaraz Street corner Banawe Street Quezon City (411-1565); Timog Avenue, Quezon City How much to shell out: P160 person on weekdays; P195 per person on weekends; P332 per person for Sunday lunch The bargain buffet destination when it comes to Chinese food, the P160 price tag is relatively cheap for endless trips to the stations which include the staples: dimsum, dumplings, fried chicken, sweet and sour pork and vegetable dishes. The buffet gets an upgrade during Sunday lunch with Peking Duck, shrimp and roasted pork.     9. Somethin' Fishy Address: Eastwood City, Libis, Quezon City (421-6412, 421-4757) How much to shell out: P129 per person for breakfast (12 midnight to 10 a.m. daily); P325 per person for lunch (11 a.m.- 2:30 p.m.); P395 for dinner (5:30 p.m. —" 11 p.m.) Their popular breakfast buffet had many call center employees, late-night owls and early risers lining up for their spread of typical breakfast fare. Now, they've extended their buffet time to lunch and dinner for the insatiable eat-all-you-can crowd.      10. Alba Restaurant Address: Tomas Morato cor. Sct. Lozano, Quezon City (925-1912, 411-7052); 38 Polaris St. Bel Air, Makati City (896-6951) How much to shell out: P595 per person for lunch and P650 person for dinner. The Jupiter and Westgate branch only offers the lunch buffet. Even just for the moist, saffron-perfumed paella, the buffet Alba should be on every foodie's list. Serving an assortment of Spanish dishes which include callos, chorizo, paella plus appetizers, salad and dessert, this Spanish joint makes it easy to get stuffed with savory Spanish treats.

photobook: visita iglesia on a Good Friday

1st real visita iglesia with Dennies & my sis-in-law, Abbi. A result of boredom... nagkayayaan lang... But a good time to see our culture & architecture. & the BEST time TO PRAY for all of us to have more than just an appreciation of the works of man(the building & statues) but more on the AWEsome wonder of our great GOD who created us all... & to a deep PERSONAL relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ... to Christianity that's more than a part of culture and tradition... To a church unlimited by walls... to a FAITH that's UNDISPLACED... To a DEVOTION that's REAL and TRUE and RIGHT... May God bless us all.

mother's day card for Mama

Now that I am pregnant, I love my Mama more than ever knowing how she bore us through nine months... it is not easy. Before, I remember resenting her for being a "mother". When Jobbie came, I begin to realize just what she did for us and how strong she had been for her children. I am bound to love her even more as I'd become a mother myself. Thanking God for my dearest mother!

photobook: our first road trip

These pictures are from our first road trip last September. We took a trip around Laguna, the province where we're in. I hope I have a picture of the province's map here but I don't. There's a lot of it at Google though. ^^< That was a Saturday... we started left Binan at 7am right after breakfast which we learnt later that we should have left earlier because the toll gate had about 500m of traffic with the Pansol tourists (Pansol, barangay in Calamba, is a popular destination among NCR pips for their private hot spring pools). We drove through Los Banos, Bae, Victoria, Pagsanjan, Cavinti and Lumban. We decided to head back home at around 3pm because the sky was threatening a heavy rain and we are still 3 hours away from home. No. we weren't able to look up all the places that we would have wanted to go to but there would be plenty of time indeed to catch up when we'd be having visitors. This May, we are expecting Ate Rieza and her family, and Jon (my real big brother) and Tintin (his gf). With Ate Rieza, we would probably be going on a visita de Iglesia here in Laguna where there's plenty of old Catholic churches. While with Jon, we're going to go to Pagsanjan to shoot the rapids in the renowned falls (but I couldn't do this because of my pregnancy although I could really go with them for the drive) and maybe to Paete and Antipolo for some exotic dish (frogs, lizards and snakes)! I'd go for simple fish or pork... a pregnant tummy is not a good time to experiment on weird food. Since, I am so inspired in making photobooks which I probably couldn't print. So, I'm posting them here instead. I'm looking at printing all of these photobooks in one thick one which will be BOOK 1 of the DENNIES & JOY. (dating from Januray 2010 to August 2011) It is a blessing to be in love to my big love, my best friend and big brother especially since I don't think I deserve this much! Thank you, Lord!

photobook: pregnancy journal: attempt #1 (unfinished)

I have yet to download my preg strip results from my camera... meanwhile, these images are from google (just so this page won't look empty & anyway, mine look just about like those two)

I would have wanted to put in more texts... & edit the 8 weeks to 9 weeks at right but I seem to be having problem on typing down at mixbook... (same prob with the rest of the pages starting here)

this is my second ultrasound! IT'S A BOY!

MORE PICTURES COMING SOON! still to download from cam...