[Zei the foodie] Wishing for a jolly jeep renaissance

I love watching Eat St. in Lifestyle network whenever I catch it after work, never mind that the show always leaves me hungry and wishing I could be transported to the streets of San Francisco, California and New York to get a bite of all the yummy and interesting food they feature.

The show features the food truck invasion in the US wherein different cuisines from all parts of the world are sold by food trucks - food so yummy, the goers sometimes line up for quite some time just to buy these hunger busters that they say could easily rival food from fine dining restaurants. 

Watching Eat St. has made me wish for a revamp of our very own Jolly Jeep. I worked in Makati for 2 and a half years before and I used to buy lunch and merienda from these Jolly Jeeps, but I truly believe in my heart of hearts that these fast food on wheels could take their game a notch higher. Wishing that someday maybe the best Greek Gyro, Mexican Taco, New York Cheesecake or other what-have-yous could be bought from our very own Jolly Jeeps and just like in the US, eating in the streets might never be the same again.

Just thinking out loud. :)

This post has gotten me hoping to cap off this weekend with yummy food. =p 

[Zei the foodie] My (lifetime) date's version of dinner on a budget

Here's a post on one of my other interests - food! Oh, all this glorious food! Anyway, Rich and I usually have our weekly dates on Sundays after we hear mass. Last Sunday however was a low-on-cash weekend, but we were compelled to still eat dinner outside to spare our ate of cooking our dinner while taking care of Zia. And since we've kinda moved on from Jollibee and Mcdo dinners, my husband took the lead in deciding where we could eat with the following criteria:

1) We have to be full after dinner

2) Must just be Php 500.00

3) We have to be comfortably seated

And the dear husband found exactly that. Thanks to Burgoo! He was walking around and scouting when he got a coupon from the Burgoo attendant. Being the marketing-stunt-gullible person he is (he goes for promo packs when grocery shopping), he reported back to me and presented his suggestion and I gladly obliged.

We got a free Gambas Al Ajillo (appetizer but eaten as a main entree) worth Php375 by ordering 1 main entree of the same or higher price. We opted for the Lemon Peppered Chicken complete with rice pilaf which is also priced at Php375. We just ordered extra plain rice, iced tea and bottled water and we were good to go. Not bad, really.

With our coupon, we ate on a budget (we went Php 85 over budget, but that's okay), but left with happy and filled stomachs. Oh and we still had take-out chicken and gambas left which we brought home for ate Marlene.

Photo credit: www.gitaasuncion.blogspot.com

Yesterday was a day of many firsts

Just as the title says, yesterday was a day of many firsts for me. Allow me to enumerate and expound if necessary.

~ First time to leave our baby girl for more than 3 hours

People have been saying that I have to get used to leaving our baby girl for more than 8 hours so I won't have a hard time adjusting when I go back to work. Well, yesterday, Richmond and I were out for around 7 hours, so I guess that's a good start. But the whole time we were out, I was texting hourly and asking how Zia was doing. Hehe.

~ First Happy Lemon drink

Since I got pregnant, I've never had a sip of milk tea and I was always sad that I couldn't drink what has become sort of a fad drink. Though I still can't really drown myself with milk tea since I'm breastfeeding, I took a break yesterday and decided that 1 small order of Happy Lemon milk tea won't hurt. So how was my first sip - loved it to bits. Thanks for the treat love!

~ First Mochi Ice Cream experience

Try it. A kids fist sized ball of mochi goodness with ice cream inside. You'll wonder where this yummy treat has been all your life. =p

~ First movie date with rich since I gave birth

We watched Real Steel and it was a great 1st movie after around 2 months of hiatus.

~ First time to use the Breastfeeding Station (not to breastfeed, but to pump)

Since we were out for a couple of hours, I really had to pump. Luckily, Eastwood Mall had a nice and quiet breastfeeding station where I could pump privately. I was conscious at first since there were 2 other breastfeeding moms, but I got into the groove shortly and pumped away.

So there, that was my day of firsts and I loved my day yesterday, but it actually made me look forward more to the time when we could share many firsts with our baby girl. Can't wait! Lovelier days ahead!

Take me to 'The Whimsy' @ Cafe 1771

My mind's floating... where? To somewhere whimsical. Well, I saw this quaint and very pretty deli during a recent wedding i attended and I instantly loved it - the place was true to it's name, 'The Whimsy' @ Cafe 1771 (El Pueblo, Ortigas). Must eat there sometime, I'm sure the food will be as lovely as the ambiance. I'm thinking it would be a wonderful venue for our baby girl's christening reception or something. =) Giddy. =)

*Photo taken from www.chateaugroup.com

Me, the heavyweight.

I should really stop digging on the sweets... very soon. =)

Among my many lists

I'm a list person. I think I've always been that way since I could remember. So here's another list just in case I forget.

My list of things to eat/drink after baby arrives:

1. Salmon Sashimi (lots of it)
2. McDo Coke Float
3. Serenitea (Hokkaido)
4. Happy Lemon (Rock Salt Cheese)
5. Dirty Potato Chips - Salt & Pepper flavor
6. Chicharong Bulaklak
7. Coffeebean (Vanilla Ice Blended)
8. Sunny Side Up egg (not necessarily well done)

Now that I'm looking at my list, it isn't as long as I thought it would be so it would probably just take me a week or two to eat/drink everything on my list without worrying about jeopardizing baby's development/nutrition. Looking forward. :) Until my next list!

Today's highlights (so far)

1. It's SATURDAY!!! I love weekends because I get to spend time with the husband whose work requires him to be on a night shift!

2. Caramel Banana Walnut Waffles from Pancake House - I've been bugging Richmond (what's new?) to buy me and baby Caramel Banana Walnut waffles since two days ago and he finally gave in (yet again), so baby and I enjoyed our sweet fix for breakfast dessert. :)

3. Steamed siomai for breakfast with toyo and the indispensable chili - I don't think siomai would taste the same if eaten sans the toyo and chili. Well, we've had it that way and we didn't enjoy much, so today marks our first siomai breakfast complete with the toyo and chili since Richmond got us a bottle from the grocery recently. It was really the missing oomph.

So there, those are the highlights of my day so far, and it isn't even 10AM. I'm pretty sure I'll accumulate more. So instead of entertaining the May 21, 2011 Judgment Day crazy rumor/thoughts, I decided that today, Richmond, baby and I will have a blast and have as many highlights of the day as we can.

Any highlights for you already?

* My date settings are mixed up, so yeah, it's really already Saturday despite what the date says. Photo of siomai grabbed from http://www.filipino-foods.com/ and caramel banana walnut waffle photo grabbed from http://www.clickthecity.com/