Random cravings

Beef rendang: The way to rekindle a dry and fried creative spirit

August 11, 2012 6 Comments

Empty.

I’ve heard that Dubai summers can be quite depressing. Imagine being stuck in an enclosed space filled with 10 ginormous SUVs, all revving up their engines with heat levels steadily increasing and exhausts on full blast right in your face that breathing is the most difficult thing to do. Imagine the suns fierce rays pinching every pore on your skin, burning you to a crunchy dry, unattractive crisp.That’s how it feels on most days.

And if you’re stuck in Dubai with no travel plans out of this country and just sick of bumping elbow-to-elbow with the crowds at the shopping malls, then I suppose depression is possible. The past weeks have been a routine of office-work-office-work. Nowhere to go. Hardly anything decent to do, except enjoy our wee flat’s air conditioning.

This heat does fry your creativity and spirits like it did to me. I actually don’t mind being burnt once in a while because when you get burnt, you do learn something new. Like the first time I tried Beef Rendang.

That unrelenting Tapsilog nag

April 26, 2012 3 Comments

Damn you Tapsilog. Damn you.

“I’m craving for Tapsilog.” (Remember Filipino breakfast math? Tapsilog = tapa / cured beef + sinangag / garlic fried rice + itlog / egg)

It was around 2AM when the craving crept into my taste buds and gurgling tummy. The Husband and I used to have a trusty go-to for tapsilog at ungodly hours, but, here in Dubai, at this hour, there was nowhere to have a quick tapsilog fix.

“Let’s go get some tapa from West Zone.” he heard my Filipino breakfast craving loud and clear; but I, for some delirious reason, declined his generous offer for a tapa run. I thought the longing for salty, vinegary, garlicky tender yet crispy beef strips with steaming hot garlic fried rice topped with a sunny-side up egg would go away in my slumber.

I was dead wrong. So wrong. You know that feeling that nothing else would ever satisfy you? This was so it.

The Lucban longganisa dream sequence

April 4, 2012 2 Comments

“Could we send you some Lucban longganisa?” my mama asked.

Happy Hungarian Games!

April 2, 2012 3 Comments

Dubai Garden Centre mascot approved!

I have a shameless adoration for sausages, or “meat in tube form” as Anthony Bourdain fondly calls these meat links of love.

Goodbye for now Global Village

March 29, 2012 4 Comments

As the sandstorms blow away the cool winter air and as March draws to a close, I now bid a bitter adieu to one of my not-so-secret happy places in Dubai: Global Village. It pains me to see your dancing rainbow neon lights no more as we zoom through Emirates road. It pains me to not get to stroll through the noisy, crowded halls in awe with fresh eyes on each visit. It pains me to not get any more chances to savor doughy bites of the sugar raised Bambaloni (Tunisian doughnut) or to drown myself in crispy date syrup drenched, crispy Lgeimat (Emirati doughnuts), the highlights of my Global Village trips.

In order to make this sorrowful parting of ways sweeter, I forced (after much prodding) The Husband to take me on one last trip, so that I can take home a part of Global Village to keep and share with my loved ones, family and friends back home, until it opens again.

Caribou Coffee Hangover

March 19, 2012 Leave a Comment

I did not drink a single drop of alcohol at the St Patty’s Day celebration, but I seem to have a good hangover from our Caribou. By hangover, I mean I still want another tall glass of iced tea (and the large ceramic mug missing from our collection) from my super favorite coffee shop.

Summer is coming…

March 16, 2012 Leave a Comment

I went out of the house this evening wearing just a single layer of clothing, a cool cotton shirt and a pair of jeans. No need snugly woolen or fuchsia pink jacket. The weather was getting warmer. The recent changes in temperature, along with the sandstorms, surely meant one thing: the change in season from “winter” (which I personally like to call fake winter since we have no snow here) into the dreadful desert summer.

I’d like to be in hot water right now.

March 8, 2012 4 Comments

Today is the second day of feverish chills and it isn’t funny. I don’t feel sick sick with my head down the mouth of the loo and my insides going outside. No, it’s nothing like that. It’s just the recurring bouts of chills in the sizzling desert afternoon. I can still go about my daily business, but I am still officially feverish. No doubt about that.

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Filed Under: My Life in Food, Random cravings Tagged With: hot water, my life in food, random cravings

Project 30: Me Time is Milk Tea Time

September 3, 2011 8 Comments

Good Me Time with Milk Tea Time

I can’t believe it’s been almost a week in Manila already. My life has basically been a blur. Or mostly in a standstill as I seem to spend most of my time on the road, which is a good 4 to 5 hours a day. Traffic isn’t usually this bad, but since it’s been raining almost non-stop (or conveniently during rush hours) plus, as most people have tweeted, the start of the Christmas season (We are suckers for the Christmas holidays and the Christmas carols start playing on the radio as early as September). If you’ve been following me on Twitter, I admit I have been ranting A LOT. Yes, welcome back to the chaos that is Manila!