The Cronut Craze

oh the ubiquitous Cronut. For months now, that Croissant-Donut hybrid has been haunting my instagram timeline thanks to a local shop that made it's own version from the New York one.

Being the sweet tooth that i am, i couldn't wait til i sunk my teeth into one. EVERYBODY seemed to love it. Everybody seemed to talk about it. Everybody seemed to want it. So. did. i.

i kept planning to go to that little shop but hearing that they quickly run out, i just thought "naaah... i'll taste it in time"

And finally, the time did arrive. it was on my birthday party and i was given a birthday cake made of cronuts.

i was beyond excited to finally taste the Cronut!!! as i blew out the candle, i grabbed a cronut right away and took that first bite.

I took one bite. and became the happiest girl in the world. i took another bite. sweet. and a third bite. ok, that's enough. i then left the rest of the cronut on a plate. it was too much. i didnt want it anymore.

Now, i dont know how our cronuts here are actually made-- but i do know this. The original cronuts in New York has a dough that is made out of mostly butter, made into a croissant shaped like a donut, fried and injected with frosting and topped with more frosting. The inventor refuses to reveal the specific ingredients so nobody really knows the calorie content. But just hearing about these "basic" stuff--- It's a heart attack waiting to happen.

Now what do i really think of the cronut? its ok. i dont see why people would hoard it. or line up for it. It's like the cookie butter phenomenon wherein if you had it, you were somewhat "cool". but then i tasted it,. it was just ok i'd still rather eat peanutbutter. In the case of cronuts, i'd rather have a real donut. (and donuts have less calories i presume.. choose the lesser evil!)

Proof that i didnt really like the cronuts? the other day, i had brunch with some friends in the famous shop who sells them. and the table where cronuts were being sold was right across me. i couldve easily bought a dozen but i didnt. instead i watched as customers came and went just to get their hands on it. they were sold out by noon.WOW. 

now this entry isnt about putting down cronuts. it's just that maybe its not my cup of tea. and I guess knowing how much calories, fat and sugar content it must have hindered me from liking it because of the guilt i felt with every bite. i could hear my aunt saying "a moment on your lips, forever on your hips" as i was munching through that small bite.  

 so, ladies and gents...do you like it because it's "cool"? or because its really good? i know i dont. but i wont judge you if you do :)

Conquering the Kitchen: Poached Salmon ala Bubby

i was never the type who you would find in the kitchen cooking up something. No. If ever you DO find me in the kitchen, it's usually because i'm rummaging through the pantry looking for some peanutbutter or instant noodles. 

well, I do know how to cook. technically. i know how to cook eggs -- scrambled eggs, sunny side up, omelet; or anything with the word "instant" on it. obviously. i can make kick butt sandwiches and sandwich spreads though. hehe. 

but real food? especially REAL, HEALTHY FOOD? you have got to be kidding me. that would be a challenge.

but  because of my boyfriend's influence, i've almost stopped eating junk. almost.And i've started to eat healthy. He's been teaching me how to eat clean and train mean. no more "workout to pigout" mantra that i've learned to love. 

Anyway, today is the start of my ZERO carb, ZERO salt, ZERO oil challenge so i decided that maybe it's time for me to learn how to prepare my own food. And last night, since i've been craving for Poached Salmon (and it costs abt a thousand bucks if i eat it in my fave resto) i researched on ole trusty google different Poached Salmon recipes until i found one to my liking. and tweaked it. :)

so ladies and gents, here it goes:

POACHED SALMON 

(inspired by the recipe from Martha Stewart's website)

WHAT YOU NEED:

2 Carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 celery stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 peeled onion, halved

1/2 lemon, thinly sliced

1 24oz salmon fillet, to cut into 4 strips

Asparagus

the hardest part: taking out the skin from the salmon.

DIRECTIONS:

 Step 1: 

In a large, deep, straight-sided skillet or heavy pot, combine carrots, celery, onion, lemon and 6 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 8 minutes.

Step 2:

Season salmon with a little bit of pepper and gently lower into simmering liquid (liquid should just cover fish). Reduce to a very gentle simmer. Cover and cook until salmon is opaque throughout, about 5 minutes (longer for thicker fillets). 

Using a wide slotted spatula, remove salmon from liquid.

Step 3: 

Take out the liquid from the pan and fill it up halfway with water. Cover til it boils. Take out cover and cook asparagus for 2 mins. drain and serve with the rest.

And here you go! no salt, no oil... HEALTHY DINNER! and yes, it tastes good!! 

total cost: About 600 pesos. serves 3-4 people. (beats the 1000 per person in a resto, huh?) 

xx,

Bubby

29 things to do before i hit 29

it just turned midnight so that leaves me with 28 days before i say goodbye to being 28. (yes, i am a lola)

29 is an age where you are too old to be one thing, but too young to be the other. i've got 28 days to do some things i wana do.. some i have done already but have to re-achieve, some i have yet to do or never done. 

so to be sure i am held accountable for these goals, let me write them down here, for all of you to see.

And if i dont get to complete atleast 80% of them? feel free to judge me ;)

1. get abs. legit, hardcore, dry abs. not the few lines or whatever i have.

2. weigh less than 120. i am currently between 120-130 and i want to hit about 112-117 like last year.

3. learn how to play a musical instrument.

4. get a home dj set -- just so i can throw some fun parties. hehe

5. do a pull up. no rubber cord helpers. i cannot, for the life of me, do a whole badass pull up just yet.

6. do a handstand. hold it for 5 seconds. no wall. no spotter.

7. join a 5k run in the morning. i am NOT a morning person and i dont really run unless being chased by zombies.

8. get one more tattoo

9.write a song or help atticus write a song :)

10. relive the 90's and make a mixtape. hehe

11. eat out less-- just 1x a week should suffice. (eat more home cooked meals)

12. learn how to cook a new dish. (i cant do a kare kare yet hehe)

13. no rice for 1 whole week. yes sushi, that means you.

14. no eating of chocolates for 4 days straight. (i eat chocolates after every meal)

15.  do a 3 day water cleanse

16. no twitter for 24 hrs

17. no facebook for 24 hrs

18. have a super yummy cheatday--- eat breakfast food for brekkie, lunch and dinner. yay!

19. master somethimg by practicing it 2 hrs a day, every day.

20. start reading 1 book a week again. last time i read one was 10 days ago. bad.

21. dye hair into a diff color

22. have 3 more blog entries

23. no becky speak for a whole day. (uh oh..)

24. no shopping for new clothes or shoes or bags or accessories til Aug. 

25. Garage Sale. 

26. get a hot stone massage

27. try pole dancing again

28. clean up messy, messy apartment

29. plan the birthday party!! :)

crossing my fingers i get to do all of these! or better yet, i should start doing. so ta-tuh for now!

xx, Bubby

p.s. please note that i have less that a month so my goals are not so big/deep. i will do a more in depth version after this.. bigger goals, longer time to achieve :)

poser.

On the way to dinner on our 4th night in HongKong, Atz spotted this shirt on a mannequin. Jimi Hendrix is one of his favorite guitarists so he wanted to buy it for himself. Unfortunately, the rock themed shirts were only for girls so he told me that i SHOULD get it. and i did. And wore it the next day.

Here i am being a poser, pretending i know everything i know about Jimi Hendrix when honestly, i dont. i've heard his name before, but i didnt really know who he is, what he did, what dongs he made, etc. Dont worry, I know some tidbits about him already just so i'm just half a poser now. made for a cute outfit though! hehehe ;)

shopping. Jimi Hendrix top: cotton on; jeans: moto by topshop; shoes: hellz bellz x vans; bag: Givenchy; lifeproof case for iphone5

Madame Tussauds

May 14, 2013. It was our 5th and last day in HongKong and our flight wasnt until 9:55 that night, so Atz and i decided to do touristy stuff and took the Tram over to The Peak. When we got there, we didnt really know what to do— we had just eaten and have done all our shopping already. We went to the top floor to see the view, beautiful as it was, after 15 minutes of taking it all in, there was nothing else for us— except for this famed Wax Museum, Madame Tussauds. 

We were greeted by Jackie Chan upon entering — wax version, ofcourse— his was the only one that had to be photographed only by the establishment, and then personal cameras can be used with all the others.

it was fun checking out all those wax figures and checking if they really resembled the famed people that they were supposed to be.

here are some photo’s from my phone.

p.s. i ran out of memory and had to use Atz’s phone for some photos, and unfortunately, i havent loaded them in my laptop yet— i shall post those photos soon. but i guess these will do.

Museum Entrance

 *ehem ehem* 

 Brad :)

 Madame Tussaud's wax replica

 HRH 

 The Boy with the man i named my dog after :)

spot the not

checking out what my buddy William has written so far ;p

 my new barkada

that's all for now. 

it's good to be back (in blogging)

xx

Bubby

tears of joy

so that was how it felt like. to be soo happy you just end up crying. i've honestly never felt that before, not until almost a month ago, July 18, when my friends gave me a surprise party.

It was a week before my birthday, so ofcourse i didnt expect anything. Truth was, i came from a family day out and just went to Gel's house w my workout clothes coz we were planning to workout that night. Little did i know that as i was in Gel's room waiting for us to start (she had some relatives in the house visiting), everyone else was busy setting up my surprise.

Gel finally came up, and invited me to just eat somewhere first since there were alot of people in the house, it'd be a hassle for all of them to witness our workout session. So eat we went and boy, did i EAT!

Cafe Breton's Le Magnifique Crepe for dessert

After dinner, Gel asked me if i could accompany her to Fuel Up to just check on something. Ofcourse i did not suspect anything, i mean, why would i? her excuse seemed legit (it was.. she cant lie to me haha). so off to Fuel Up we went and on the way up i even tripped coz i was checking Twitter while climbing the stairs (oops)

When i walked into the door, since my eyes were on my phone, i just heard "SURPRISEEEE!!!" i honestly got confused at first. (dumb blonde moment!)in my mind i was like "wait. is it Gel's bday? am i a bad friend for not......ohmygawd" and BOWM. when i looked up i saw Mond, Elmo, Kuya Pao, Ehra, Nyko, Cannu, Saab, Chito. in that order. only then did it hit me that it was MY birthday. the surprise was for ME.

i dont know why but my initial reaction was to walk out. haha.

After showing me the whole set up and how they planned everything via bbm, i hugged everyone thank you and as i hugged my brother, Moe quipped "Bubbs, di ka ba naiiyak?" and i answered "NO!" making it seem as if i wasnt. but then my bro said "naiiyak na yan,,, ang higpit ng yakap sakin eh.."


then it happened. tears just fell from my eyes out of sheer joy.

Thank you VAMPS for everything. i'm so happy to have found you guys :)

for more photos --and i mean MORE-- and for the other side of the story (aka the party planners), check out Saab's Blog here.

sneak peek to our 3 day vacay :)

me & Pwetpwet

food galore!

3 birds

ice candy

western shopper

it's important to have a list when you're grocery shopping. otherwise you end up buying almost everything you just feel like buying even if you dont really need it.

but what makes grocery shopping fun is when you do it with friends,,,, one who has the same wavelength as you and you both hoard everything from ice candies to food organizers, and one who is a more practical shopper (and the photographer in this case)-- the one who would stop you and friend number 1 from buying all those stuff that u obviously only wana buy coz u feel like it.... all these for a 3 day vacation :) (and the groceries apparently didnt stop here)

yes, we also bought this bread container. it's where we kept the muffins that we also bought. haha

didnt buy these snacks.. dried fruits arent really my thing. but yes, i do wear heels even when grocery shopping :)
tanktop, topshop. fringe vest, streetbeatboutique. denim shorts, mango. booties, zara. ring, aldo accessories. bag, louis vuitton.

here i am in my western/cowboy inspired outfit and Gel looking very feminine.
although we posed by all these oils, we didnt purchase any. no to oil! hehe

from food to containers to cleaning agents to toiletries -- we bought them all!!!
hence our realization of the need to have a list...and to never shop hungry.

xx,
Bubb