Can’t Get Enough of Shrimp Tempura
My husband and I really can’t get enough of Tokyo Tokyo’s tempura. So last Sunday we ate there again for the nth time.
Tokyo Tokyo’s Bento Tempura
Tokyo Tokyo’s Katsudon
Of course, we still had to order extra tempura!
It’s always his treat. 
Thanks for taking me out on Mother’s Day!
Z praying before we eat
The kids think fries is the best food ever. I wonder when they’ll realize Mommy was right and tempura beats their fries any time. hehe
Anyway, I promise to try cooking another batch of homemade shrimp tempura again so that we can have this at home anytime we want. But instead of using flour I will use breadcrumbs as a breading.
And Then There Were Seven
It’s a running joke in my husband’s family that they are abundant in boys in the family but unfortunately, not a single girl. To date, my husband’s mom has seven grandkids and all of them are boys raging from 17 months to 7 year old. So yes, it’s suffice to say we have lots of balls, die cast cars, action figure toys in our homes but no collectible porcelain dolls just yet. When they are together they are surely one rambunctious bunch.
The pack is led by the two eldest cousins, Z and Ren. They love each other like brothers and get along most of the time.
Z and Ren
They’re followed by Ren’s younger brother, Tim, and Clive. They are the opposite of Z and Ren. They don’t get along, period. haha!
Tim (L), Clive with moi.
Now comes the adorable twins, Colin and Caleb. They are Clive’s younger brothers. I shudder to think what they will do when they’re older because as early as now they bite each other as a way of showing affection. haha!
Colin and Caleb or vice versa. Sorry, I’m still confused who’s who.
To complete the bunch is our youngest son, Zack. We don’t know what his role would be because he is not socializing just yet but I can assure he’ll be a handful. That is if we based it in the tantrums he’s been throwing recently. Will blog about that later too.
One of the twins and Zack
The 7 cousins in one place during Tim’s birthday.
So now the million dollar question is would the eight cousin be the much awaited girl in the family or just another boy? Nobody knows the answer for now. We just have to wait and see.
The Wife of Noble Character
Zack was extra kulit last Sunday so I had to bring him to Sunday school to chill. When I returned hubby shared with me our Pastor’s sermon for Mother’s Day. Now I want to share with you too what the Bible tells us are the characters of a noble wife.
Proverbs 31:10-31
Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character
10 [a]A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
So now I know a wife with a noble character will always bring her husband good and not harm. Her husband trusts her wholeheartedly. She sees to it that she manages her household well and is the first one to wake up in the morning (while it’s still night). At the same time she is kindhearted and generous. She should also have strength, dignity, wisdom and most of all, fear the Lord.
What surprised me is that according to the Bible a wife should also be a keen businesswoman (She sees that her trading is profitable.) This gives me more resolve to earn a living even while staying at home. I admit that sometimes I’m torn between the kids and my work. Even if I’m only working at home it takes time and effort to deal with advertisers, deal with different bloggers, and write blog posts. On more than one occasion I think of quitting and just focus on being a mother and a wife. Now that I’ve read what the Bible says I know that I should try harder. I should be able to manage my online business while taking care of my family. I need to manage my time properly to make this into a reality.
Gosh, being a wife is not an easy job. Add to that the fact that she also has to be a great mother. No, I’m not complaining but I sure have a lot more to learn.
A Mother’s Day Surprise from BBT
Our church gave all Moms a treat yesterday.
After our Pastora’s sermon, which I will blog about later, the kid’s choir came out to sing the touching song, “Sa Ugoy ng Duyan.”
Kids and teens sang their hearts out for their moms. That’s Z second from right.
Then all Moms were asked to stand up in front. There were so many Moms we almost couldn’t fit. They gave us necklace made from candies. After which the kids came out with long stemmed roses. Sweet!
Before the program ended, a group of mothers also belted out a medley.
After the celebration, I took pictures of some of the moms. It’s evident they were happy with the surprise. Everyone had smiles on their faces.
Of course, I wanted to have a picture with my rose too.
Thank you so much for the touching surprise, BBT. You made lots of Moms happy today!
Daiana Menezes Was Here
We were waiting for Dad to finish his music worship when I saw this mestiza in a very short dress going out of a car and then transferring aboard this truck in the middle of the street. When I heard who it was I instantly took a photo.
Do you recognize her?
It’s no other than Brazilian beauty and former Eat Bulaga host, Daiana Menezes! I think she was the guest muse for our barangay’s basketball league but I’m not that sure.
I didn’t recognize Daiana because of the bangs. But when I saw this recent picture of hers at Pep, I confirmed it’s indeed her.
Photo courtesy of Pep.ph
Anyway, I like her already even just by seeing her for a few seconds. She didn’t look fussy and had no qualms riding aboard a truck. She was even all smiles and friendly to people on board the truck. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why she has a good reputation in showbiz. As a matter of fact, I don’t hear anything negative about her in papers. She recently left her noontime show but even that didn’t create a negative publicity because it appeared they parted in good standing. She was recently interviewed about it but she has only the best things to say about her co-workers.
I hope all celebrities are like her – down-to-earth and a good person. She didn’t let fame go to her head and other celebrities should follow her footsteps.
Vacation Bible School 2012
Summer time is VBS week for our church. And for the first time ever, I got involved and volunteered to become one of the assistants.
So how was the experience being in a roomful of kids ages 3-5? It’s borderline chaotic! If it weren’t for the experienced teachers in the room then it would be pure chaos. Until now I’m still in the state of shock. I am already overwhelmed with having two kids so I still can’t believe I was in a roomful of 30+ kids for the past four days and survived. But although there were kids who were not behaved, it was heartwarming to see the other children who wanted to learn and would still listen amid the chaos around them.
Tomorrow is the much awaited graduation day of the students. Hooray! I can’t wait for graduation to come. It was fun being with kids but for now two is enough for me.
Homemade Shrimp Tempura
We tried to cook shrimp tempura at home for the first time. Hubby loves Japanese food so he’s happy whenever there’s anything Japanese on our table even if it’s just a simple Japanese sauce.
For the tempura, I watched a video of a chef from Japan. I found out that in order to make the coating crunchy the batter has to be cold. So we used ice cold water in mixing the batter and put it in the freezer for a few minutes. The cold batter and the hot cooking oil should result to a crispy tempura coating.
Here’s the result of our experiment.
It was crunchy when it first came out but after a few minutes it quickly deflated. So now I think there’s something wrong with the batter I used. The chef in the video used tempura flour but I only used all purpose.
Good thing my youngest didn’t mind it at all. While I was still taking pictures I saw his hand grabbing one of my subjects. hehe
For the sauce we used Kikkoman Tempura sauce.
When I perfect this I might try cooking lobster tails. I heard these are really delicious, not to mention nutritious too.
The Music of JJ at Gospel Jam
We went to Gospel Jam at Centerstage last Sunday for our friend JJ’s birthday. She has written lots of songs in the past and her friends sang most of it for her birthday celebration. And my, her songs are really good too! Head on to her website and you’ll hear my favorite song of hers, Tracks and Road, in the background. Did you know she can also play the piano, guitar, and violin. Whew! Whenever I’m with my hubby’s friends I can’t help but wonder why they’re so talented while I’m not. I only comfort myself with the fact that hubby has enough talents for the two of us. Maybe God gave him all the talent since he knew we’ll be married anyway. hahaha!
Anyway, in attendance was hubby and Z:
And yours truly:
We left Zack at home because we thought we couldn’t handle having a baby inside a bar. I thought I wouldn’t miss him because we’re already together 24 hours everyday. But when our friend, Drew, brought their baby Luke along I instantly miss him!
The birthday celebrant (second from right) with her cake. With her are the hosts, Jeanne Vicars, Mark Aranal, and Joy Cruz.
And then the music started.
Z took this picture of his Dad. Pwede nang maging photographer! hehe
Z was inspired by all the beautiful music. So he took the iPad out and played some music too.
I got to say this. Ever since Z attended guitar lessons he has become more interested in music. Hubby used to complain to me he thought Z wasn’t interested in guitars and music. He brought him his first real guitar when he was only four years old. It was left untouched for three years much to hubby’s dismay. It was only this year when he finally showed interest in music. Now every afternoon after finishing his PACES he would rush to practice his guitar. We don’t even have to remind him anymore. Hubby couldn’t be happier!
Meanwhile I discovered that my camera, which we only got for free for buying hubby’s laptop, can take shots by itself after detecting a face in frame.
Unfortunately it ran out of battery after. haha! Sayang coz some celebrities were there like Brennan Espartinez and Mikey Bustos. But I think I got a picture on the iPad. Will just upload it in my next posts.
Btw, if you want to attend Gospel Jam join the group on Facebook to get the latest updates on their events.
Look What Happened Last Saturday
Good morning!
I was not able to make it with my husband and son at the basketball court this morning. I was too tired from last night. The three of us attended the Gospel Jam at Centerstage. It was fun night full of people worshipping the Lord through their songs. I highly recommend it to everyone. We got back home at around 12 midnight. You know what, I’m really getting old. At about 9pm last night I was already yawning. My body can’t take late nights anymore. haha!
Anyway, if I was too lazy to get out of bed this morning my husband and Z were not. As I type this they are at the court already sweating it out and playing ball. Too bad I’m missing it. Z’s friend came along so now Z has a playmate. Yeheyy!!!
But this was not the first time. Last Saturday there were lots of children at the court. I think there were about ten eager children who wanted to play basketball. So hubby organized a mini-basketball game. It looked chaotic at first but if there’s one thing hubby knew it’s talking to children. I told you he loves children and children just naturally gravitate towards him.
Here are the shots I took:
Meanwhile Zack found a friend too.
I left early that morning because Zack was already having a tantrum. Hubby told me after I left Z burst out crying. It turned out he was not given the ball as much as he wanted. He said he wanted to quit basketball forever.
Poor Z! How can we tell him life is exactly like that? He won’t get the ball unless he gets it himself. If he’s too slow or too weak then he’ll never get the ball and no one will ever pass it to him.
Back at home after he has calmed down hubby told him how he admired the kids for learning to play by themselves. Their dads were not there to teach them but look how good they played. When asked if he still doesn’t want to play ball he replied, “Of course I’ll still play. You are always right.”
I tell you hubby and I can’t stop laughing at that point. Z didn’t put up a fight he was so resigned because he knew his daddy has a point. Oh how we wish when he’s already in his teens he still thinks that way. We still have lots of work to do.
Anyway, I have to go out now. Today is the start of our church’s Vacation Bible School (VBS) and I’m going to assist the kids. I’ll find out later what it’s like to be in the same room with 30 kids. Wish me luck!
Bungee Fun at Eastwood
Hubby used to work at Eastwood so we used to go there to eat and while the time away. I miss going there so seeing these pictures from my files brought a smile to my face. My son was feeling brave that day and tried the Bungee Fun. This is open for kids and adults. You need to pay P120 for a ride.
Posing with Robot Man
We went to Fazoli’s for lunch. Their pizza and carbonara combo is superb. The price is affordable too.
I ordered their pesto version and found out I don’t like pesto that much. hehe
I wish we can visit Eastwood again soon.
