Friday, January 27, 2017

BBQ King Delight (Surrey)

I actually feel bad because now that Nathan and I are here in the Philippines, the husband is left alone to feed himself. My husband may be very good at all house chores but he doesn't like to cook. He's lived alone for so many years and he would eat out most of the time.

Thankfully, we discovered BBQ King Delight last October 17, 2016 through Yelp. We just moved to Surrey last October 2 so we were still clueless on where the good restaurants around the area are. BBQ King Delight has very good reviews in Yelp so I asked Ford to take us there. Favorite din kasi namin ang roasted pork.

We live in Guildford and this small Chinese restaurant specializing in BBQ is near our place. It also has ample parking at the back so it's convenient.


The restaurant is small, only around 4-5 tables (?). Displayed just across the door are their roasted items which can be bought per pound. Super nakakatakam!


We chose to dine in and ordered plated 2-item BBQ meat with steamed rice. It comes with soup and tea.


BBQ pork and roasted crispy skin pork


Soy sauce chicken and roasted crispy skin pork


Beef brisket with noodle in soup


Grabe, ang sarap ng food! The best roasted pork I've tasted here in Canada so far. The "nice plating" adds up to the nice gastronomic experience. Ang sarap kumain using a real ceramic plate at maayos ang pagkalagay sa pagkain. We usually eat roasted pork sa T&T or Food Court kaya patong-patong lang talaga.

Their food is reasonably priced and their staff (I think it's family-owned) are efficient and nice kaya ok talaga. I find their service fast.

Aside from their roasted crispy skin pork (the Chinese-style), they also have this "Pinoy lechon" that they proudly boast about. While we were dining, a Filipino couple picked this up. Ito nga raw ang version nila ng Pinoy lechon. It costs around $200, if I remember correctly.

Hmm, medyo malayo naman ang lasa sa traditional lechon natin. I ordered it the next time we dined there (they also serve it on plated meals) and I honestly couldn't distinguish it from their Chinese-style roasted pork haha!


Anyway, now that Ford's living alone, he always buy ulam from there na lang kasi nga mura at masarap. Aside from BBQ, they also sell other to-go Chinese dishes.


Oh, I am craving for some Chinese food right now! Can't wait to eat at BBQ King Delight again!

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

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Here's their complete dine-in menu (as of October 2016). So many dishes to try soon!








BBQ King Delight
8973 152 Street
Surrey, BC V3R 4E5

(604) 581-4069
Mon-Sun (except Tue) from 11:00am to 8:30pm



Thursday, January 26, 2017

One year ago today

I can't believe it, it's exactly one year ago (January 26, 2016, Edmonton time) when we received a very bad news that majorly changed our family life.


What we went through wasn't easy. I'll write about it soon. But looking back, we are grateful. Nalampasan namin. Nakayanan namin. We came out stronger.

I truly admire my husband for all his courage, patience, and perseverance. Bukod sa IQ, mataas din talaga ang EQ niya.

I know this won't be the last challenge that our little family will encounter. Pero sige lang, ganun lang naman ang buhay. Kung walang conflict, walang story. =)


I miss Edmonton.

Tama sila, mas maaappreciate mo ang isang tao o bagay pag wala na siya sa iyo.

Picture taken by my friend Bonivie and posted in her FB account)

Oh how I badly miss Edmonton and all its winter beauty! Kung makakabalik lang sana talaga kami. =(



#CessieEats 1

This is one of my favorite chocolates in the whole wide world. But too bad, wala akong nakikitang ganito sa Canada. Puro yung creamy milk chocolate with almonds lang. Nakakapagtaka lang talaga considering na made in USA naman ito.


I craved for mocha frappucino a couple of days ago kaya gumora ako sa Starbucks SM Marilao at past 9am (kahit na I have sore eyes and cold). Kilala pa ako nung isang barista doon (halos araw-araw ba naman akong bumibili dati).

Grabe, ang sarap talaga ng frapp sa Pinas! Ternuhan pa ng Ruffles Cheddar and Sour Cream (na wala rin sa Canada!). Wala na, wala na akong pag-asa talaga pumayat!


What I like most about my life here in Pinas -- I have a scooter and I can drive around at night (when Nathan's asleep) to find some food!


I've read about this McCormick Palabok in one of the mommy blogs here in Pinas. Eh syempre madali akong ma-sway kaya sinubukan ko. Medyo pricey siya at Php127+ per pack ha.

I honestly wanted "us" to work. I planned on bringing a lot sa Canada pagbalik ko kasi mahilig talaga kami sa palabok ng asawa ko. Kaso FAIL! Hindi masarap. Pero marami siya ha, good for 4 servings talaga.


Ahh! This sisig is heaven! Medyo pricey nga lang. Php100 for such a small serving. Presyong pang-resto na.


They actually have a restaurant here in Marilao (that I have yet to visit) but it's good that they put up a small stall across SM Marilao for take-out orders.


I'll try their other dishes too soon!


Just a few minutes ago, my cousins dropped by to bring me mocha frappucino. They went to the wake of Ate Merly (also our cousin), tapos nag-Starbucks sila. I wasn't able to go with them (and the rest of the family) because of TanTan. Gabi na rin kasi, baka makakuha pa ng sakit.

Salamat sa frapp!


Wednesday, January 25, 2017

The fear is real

It may seem shallow, but one of my greatest fears right now is 'losing' my Instagram account.



You see, my cousin's IG account recently got hacked and she couldn't retrieve it anymore. What if it happens to me?! Good for her, all her IG posts are linked on Facebook. Yung sa akin, konting pics lang ang shine-share ko sa FB.

I started instagramming in May 2013. Medyo late na nga kasi late na ako nag-Iphone. But since then, I have put everything (as in my life!) in IG. Mas gusto ko kasi ang Instagram kesa FB because I love taking pictures. I love posting too kaso ayaw ko namang maging overexposed ako to everyone, including former students/colleagues, insignificant people, enemies (lol!), etc. Instagram is perfect for me kasi I get to document my everyday nang konti lang ang nakakaalam.

I really can't imagine losing my IG. I sure have copies of all my pictures posted there pero syempre iba yung nakapost kasi may captions, dates, likes, at comments. Lalo na sa mga #NathanJamesLevin posts ko, na documentation ng buhay ng anak ko.

Up to now, I still don't know how to back up my IG. I tried 'Instaport' but it seems to be not working. I don't want to link din naman all my posts to FB kasi nga hindi ko ma-private ang IG album dun. I tried linking it to Flickr pero di naman din gumagana.

To be honest, I am tempted to screenshot all my posts na lang (including the comments) kaso I have 5,645 pics as of today, makaya ko kaya? ang hirap pa naman mag-start from the bottom. Tsk.

That's one thing with free social media accounts, wala kang control talaga. I wish makahanap ako ng solution soon. Basta sa ngayon, mananalangin muna ako na sana walang masamang mangyari sa account ko. =(

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NOTE: I've experienced losing all my posts in Multiply dati (I was quite a popular hello kitty collector/blogger then) kaya alam ko ang feeling nang 'mawalan.' Kaya nga may trauma ako. Hope it doesn't happen again.



Ford's 11 Days in Pinas (Holidays 2016)

It wasn't planned. But because his new office has holiday shut down pala from Dec. 23 to January 2, he's decided to come here in Pinas to be with us. Never mind the cost (ang mahal ng plane fare grrr!), kikitain din naman uli yun. Ang importante, magkakasama kami ng Pasko at Bagong Taon.

Here's a short recap of what we did on the 11 days that Daddy Ford was here:

Day 1 (December 24, 2016). Daddy's here! I didn't pick him up at the airport anymore. We had a bus that dropped off passengers in Pasay City on the night of the 23rd so I just asked our driver to fetch Ford in NAIA 2. Haha, naloka si Manong Coblancs kasi bus talaga ang sumundo sa kanya!

I was expecting them to arrive a bit late kasi nga uwian ng mga tao sa probinsya. Pero super bilis ng naging biyahe nila pauwi.

TanTan was so surprised upon seeing his dad. Super happy ang bagets!


We immediately went to SM Marilao because I wanted to buy Crema de Fruta from Goldilocks for Noche Buena. Unahan pa naman doon kaya dapat maaga.



We were supposed to attend the 9am mass but Mamoosh was feeling sleepy (note: we had no househelp that time) so hindi na rin kami tumuloy. We just had a simple noche buena at home with Tita Oya and my cousin MacMac.


Day 2 (December 25, 2016). We weren't able to attend the mass because we woke up late. Nagchill-chill pa ang mag-daddy before and after lunch.


We proceeded to Meycauayan to visit Auntie Doc Ely (Ford's aunt) in the afternoon.


We had early dinner at Kenny Roger's Petron NLEX Marilao before heading home. Saka Starbucks.


Day 3 (December 26, 2016). My aunt who lives in Surrey requested Ford for some quezo de bola for pasalubong kaya inuna na namin para matapos na. Walang Marca Pina brand sa SM Marilao (at wala ring malaki) so we went to Landmark Supermarket in Trinoma.


We did a mini shopping at Trinoma na rin and some food trip.


Day 4 (December 26, 2017). I had a quick agreement with Raxie the previous night for a meet-up. Kaya ayun, dahil madalian, nakalimutan na namin ni Ford na coding ang sasakyan namin. We were already in Camachile when we realized that. We were so nervous. Ford's Philippine driver's license was expired pa naman (though he can use naman his Canadian license). Awa ng Diyos, nakalusot naman kasi early afternoon noon at walang nanghuhuli sa kalsada.

We ate at Pizza Hut because sobrang miss ko na ang sausage stuffed crust pizza! Then we had desserts at Iceberg's.


Day 5 (December 28, 2016). The original plan was to visit Luna then spend a night or two in Baguio. Kaso hindi natuloy kasi nga nawalan kami ng kasambahay and we couldn't leave Mamoosh alone nang matagal.

We left for Luna at around 5:30am and around 3pm na yata kami nakarating. Super traffic anywhere grrr. Less than 4 hours lang kami sa Luna.


But at least we were able to visit Auntie Nen, Uncle Sicing and Auntie Celina (who passed away last January 1), Auntie Eden and Uncle Romy, and Auntie Grace. Past 1am of the following day na kami nakarating ng Marilao.


Day 6 (December 29, 2016). Raxie brought us at Chef Laudico Guevarra's for a sumptuous buffet dinner. We were there as early as 5pm because we had no reservation (puno na raw kasi). We waited for more than 2 hours but it was worth it. Masarap ang food grabe at ang ganda ng ambience.


Thanks for the treat, BFF!


We had coffee pa muna at Starbucks syempre. Ayun, nakakuha na rin ako ng planner sa wakas.


Day 7 (December 30, 2016). For the nth time, tinreat uli kami sa buffet dinner ni Tita Dap (Ford's favorite cousin) sa Manila Peninsula. Sobrang busog na naman as in!
.

I am thankful because Nathan was so "nice" to his Ninang Daphne. Sumama talaga siya, nakipaglaro at nakipagkulitan


We took Tita Dap home to her new condo in Muntinlupa. 


Super enjoy ang bagets sa playground. 


Day 8 (December 31, 2016). We just stayed in Bulacan kasi magpuputukan na. We Went to SM Marilao to buy some for food for media noche kaso ang haba ng pila sa Hypermarket. Nag-Rosalie's na lang kami for some pastries. Then we proceeded to Bocaue to get some paputok and pailaw.

Ok na sana ang set-up namin kaso masama na pala ang pakiramdam ni Daddy the Pooh. Ayun di tuloy nakapagpaputok.


Except for some luces nung midnight na.


We were really thankful to be together that night. Magkakasama kaming sumalubong sa bagong taon.

Day 9 (January 1, 2017). We went to Lolomboy after lunch to watch the annual new year's day parade. Haha, jologs na parade lang naman. Pero part talaga ito ng childhood ko.


Sa wakas, nakainom din si Coblancs kahit papano.


Then we had dinner at where else -- Jollibee! 


Day 10 (January 2, 2017). We went to SM Megamall to buy some Philippine mugs for Ford's officemates. Meron naman sa SM North pero nag-Mega kami para maiba naman. I planned on having a nice family photo kasi last chance na namin noon kaso di ako pinalad. Hay, sa Canada na nga lang!


Day 11 (January 3, 2017). Ford just went to Meycauayan for a short ride in the morning, then to the dentist in SM Marilao for teeth cleaning. Tapos before we knew it, bye bye time na.


Our Navara pick-up truck is 'coding' so Pod had to use their old Fuego. Sumama na rin sa paghahatid sina Doc Ely and Manang Loleng. Buti na lang me nakuha siyang driver kasi I hate bringing people to the airport hehe.

It was sad, of course. Pero we'll see him in 3 months naman so keri lang.




So there. Eleven short days. Not that exciting sa totoo lang kasi wala naman kaming interesting na nagawa o napuntahan. Pero happy na rin kasi kahit sobrang pagod kasi nga nagkasama kami during the holidays. We spent quite a fortune sa 11 days na ito pero sige lang, it was worth it naman.

We miss you, Daddy!