I ♥ Weekend Market

It was 8 in the morning when I felt someone tapping my feet lightly accompanied by repeated hushes of ate… ate…, signalling me to wake up. I look at the foot of my bed and saw my mom looking behind the double deck steel bars and doing the aforementioned gesture, smiling and already dressed up. I sleepily ask her why as my mom does not really wake us up for she believes that it was not her responsibility but ours alone to wake up early if we need to go somewhere else.

“Let’s go to Salcedo weekend market!”

Upon hearing it, I immediately got my lazy ass out of my bed and dress up hastily as I know that I would not be passing this opportunity to food trip!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lot of people was already swarming the place as we arrive there. The market has already been filled with a mix of gastronomic aromas that would really encourage anyone’s mouth to deliberately salivate.

Our first buy was among these numerous hito (catfish) cramped on top of each other on a banana leaf for just P150. We just could not allow ourselves to not buy hito if we were being bombarded by their overwhelming number and luscious goodness.

Fruit tart and other French delicacies can be bought at La Cuisine Francaise.

I love organic vegetables. Organic vegetables may be expensive but there’s a huge difference in terms of taste and freshness between an organic one and a non-organic one; that, we could not compromise.

We filled our baskets with vegetables that we love including bulaklak ng kalabasa (squash blossoms), sitaw (string beans) and saluyot (Jute leaves). My mom cooked an appetizing diningding using those ingredients, plus the head of the hito that we bought, for our lunch! All the goodness that we get from living in the province came back to life as I savour the dish that my mom cooked for us.

 

I can’t wait to taste this probiotic chicken that we also bought (P250 each) earlier. They said that it tastes like a native chicken but has much tender meat than the latter. We’ll having this for dinner!

Lots of green stuffs!

Fell in love with these lovely banig storage boxes that Green Palette was selling.

I failed to check the name of the booth found at the entrance of the market but these storage boxes that they were selling caught my eye as those are so chic and, at the same time, affordable. You can get the biggest one for just P350 which I truly like!

They are also selling this lovely banig bags. The bags were made and hand drawn all the way from Quezon province.

I just could not shun off this very girly wind chimes. Truly, I can already feel the spirit of Christmas. Abundance of green and red colors around is now very apparent.

My nostrils caught the sinful aroma of the Wagyu patty that Rafik Shawarma was grilling as I was passing in front of their kiosk. Their Wagyu burger costs P300 each.

Chlorophyll sells wheatgrass and natural products but the one thing that immediately caught my undivided attention are the bamboo towels lined in the forefront of their booth.

I acquired one of their fliers and will just be copying, word per word, the facts that they had found out regarding bamboo towels.

So, why should you really choose bamboo towels over cotton towels? First and foremost bamboo fabric is three times more absorbent than the finest Egyptian cotton. They are also naturally anti-bacterial and kill bacteria which our meticulous moms would truly be keen on. Other than this, bamboo towels have naturally soft, breathable, flexible and durable fibers. True enough, the towels are soooo soft. I was literally running my hands on the fabric again and again, taking in the nice texture of their sample towel. And the incredible thing that I deeply appreciate about the product is that bamboo towels are naturally sustainable textiles and eco-friendly. Yes to taking care of Mother Earth!

Their towel cost P1200 each.

We also bought 1 liter of specially bred Holstein-Sahiwal cow’s milk at Holly’s for P100. They also offer low fat milk and chocolate flavored milk aside from their pasteurized whole fresh milk.

We also bought these Japanese pancakes with choco chips and white choco chips for P18 each to fill our empty stomachs.

We topped our food tripping/stacking Saturday with this moist and yummy banana bread from Freshly Baked by Bernice. We are avid fans of anything banana (eg. banana chips!) that is why we just could not leave without even just  a pack of those. 1 banana bread cost just P35 but you’ll get a deal of P100 if you buy three.

 

There are a lot of delectable and interesting food and delicacies to try that could unknowingly let you reach for your wallet and expend your available cash in an instant. Fret not. Do not be guilty. At least you devoured good food and life is too short for you to not to.

Salcedo Weekend Market is open every Saturday at 7 am to 2 pm in Salcedo Park. The park is found right in the heart of Salcedo village in Makati City, in between the streets of Tordesillas and Leviste.

Another Side of Kuala Lumpur

I got to fall head over heels with Kuala Lumpur for the second time around last August. But much like the first visit, we have not gotten the chance to go inside the Petronas Tower yet again. I hope I can already go up there the next time I visit the city.

Anyway, our itinerary did not fail to compensate for the failed visit to Petronas. To tell you the truth, the trip exceeded my expectation!

If you are travelling, the largest component of your expense can be attributed to fares. It was a real blessing to meet uncle whom we contracted for just RM 150 to tour us around the city for the whole day with his taxi.

He brought us first to Beryl’s Chocolate Kingdom. I have observed during the whole duration of our Malaysia getaway that the locals has a strong affiliation with sweets and I had seen that with the many chocolate boutiques that they had established within the peninsula.

We were actually shoving people aside so that we can pave a way for ourselves towards the counter but we eventually gave up and left the store because of the long line that welcomed us. That’s how crowded the place was!

We made our way to Istana Negara where the King of Malaysia resides. It was really good timing that we witnessed the changing of guards!

We headed afterwards to a Chinese temple located on the southern part of the Istana which is the Thean Hou Temple.

The six tiered temple is mainly built by the Hainanese community living in KL for their Goddess Tian Hou, which literally means Heavenly Empress or Heavenly Queen in English.

 

At the back of the temple is this humongous and beautiful tortoise pond.

For the Chinese, the tortoise had divine attributes. It is the symbol of heaven and earth in which the shell is comparable to the heaven while the underside to the Earth.

One of the highlights of our trip is us being able to see the Batu Caves. A 13 kilometer drive from KL is necessary to reach Batu Caves as it can already be found outside the city; specifically in Gombak district, north of Kuala Lumpur.

We can already see the Murugan statue standing right outside the caves while uncle was still driving us towards the place.

The 42.7 meter high statue is the tallest statue of this particular Hindu deity in the whole world. It is basically made of 1550 cubic meters of concrete, 250 tonnes of steel bars and was finished with 300 litres of gold paint bought from Thailand.

 

The most visited cave within the area is the Temple Cave as it houses a Hindu temple inside it. The cave can be reached through these 272 concrete steps found at the back of the statue. A really good exercise for all ages! Even us were panting as we ascend the stairs.

 

What you will be witnessing inside the cave are these beautiful and naturally structured limestone that will left you in total awe and appreciation of God’s greatness.

I was so happy to see something new in KL. Limestone formation just outside the city? That’s something very worthwhile to see. I just have to tell you though to watch out for these two enemies that you would encounter while you are savouring the whole place.

After which, we went back to Kuala Lumpur to catch the Petronas Tower with its full lights on during the evening. Uncle had already dropped us on KLCC’s pavement and was about to exit then out of the center when we realized that we still want to go to Merdeka Square as my mom and I wanted my brother to see the place for himself for it was also his first time to be in Kuala Lumpur. Not thinking twice, we immediately hailed his cab again and drove off as fast as we can to the Independence Square.

 

You may have noticed the prevalence of the Malaysian flags in our pictures. It was because we went there days ago the country’s much awaited National Day, which falls on August 31.

Anyway, we went back to Suria KLCC to have our dinner and to catch the beautiful Petronas Tower in its full bloom right after we are done eating.

 

How lovely! What better way to wrap up a tiring but fun filled day than to just sit around the foot of the towers and observe how beautifully the towers glow until it is already time to go.

Here’s My Card

I was prompted, two weeks ago, to come up with a business card of my own. It is just so inconvenient and unprofessional for me to just write my contact details in a piece of paper or to just dictate my number whenever I encounter people who seemingly need my services hence, the decision.

As I were browsing the internet that time for stores within Manila that could offer me a simple yet professional looking business card, I chanced upon this online business card printing center which I found very suitable for my current need.

BusinessCards.com.ph’s site is very user friendly. You can navigate your way around the site with so much ease.

With just a few simple steps, you could already have with you your business card 2 days (or less) after ordering it online.

To start off, BusinessCards.com.ph encourages and allows you to design your own template. You could browse the internet for a lot of interesting ideas to help you. In my case, I designed my own since I already have a look in mind that I want to be implemented. But if ever you find yourself uninspired and lacking creative ideas for your cards, you can just ask them to propose a template for you which entails an extra charge.

 

After completing your own design, you can now upload the image of your design as well as fill up the online order form found in their site.

You can order your cards by box (100 pieces) and this will just cost you P495 including delivery charges unless you’re not inside the zone of coverage. You can call or email them up to ask if your delivery address is included in it. The price goes lower as you order more.

You will receive an email confirmation with your order summary including also details where you have to pay (they have bank deposit as their payment method for personal accounts) after you confirm your order.

 

Someone from their team will email you ASAP regarding the approval of the business card layout that they had designed for you. If all is well, you can now then send the scanned image of your deposit slip and they can then print your cards out and send it to you immediately.

But if not, if ever you are still not satisfied with the layout, their very patient and accommodating team will really stick out with you until you achieve the design that you wanted. Mark, who assisted me, made it very easy for me. Thank you so much for that!

 

After sending the package out to the courier, they will then email you with your tracking number.

What you have to do after which is just to sit back and wait for it.

In my case, I got my cards a day after I completed the whole process. Yipee! So worry-free and fast!