Aligaga- Day In, Day out. Repeat

Reese was sick for more than two weeks- from cough to GBS to physical therapy and without thinking twice, I would tell you that it has been the hardest since our parenting days began. Before I started this entry, I thought I had my thoughts collected but as I went along, I found myself lost for words. 

Remembering how sick he was at this point breaks my heart </3

Because that's the thing with parenting. Some say and you tell yourself as well that it gets easier as they age but it doesnt. I remember my mom quoting an officemate, who complained that her son asked her mommy to buy milk for her apo. Mom's officemate complained that she thought her problems would end after her son got married but my mom just laughed and said "Buti kung hindi mo na anak yun kapag nagasawa na."- Short of saying that parenting concerns change as they age but it's parenting nonetheless.

When Reese was newborn, the hardest thing was waking up every two hours to feed him and I told myself that it'll be better when he gets older. When he got older, he liked playing at around 2 or 3 am and watch music videos so still, the sleep was elusive. When he turned 5 months, he slept soundly through the night but he would roll over a lot, so Arnold and I had to sleep in an L-formation so he wouldn't fall off the bed. When we moved to our new home, he quickly learned how to go down the bed by himself so we had to wake up when he did because he's walk towards plugs and appliances in a jiffy.

See, that's how crazy parenting is. It's a double bladed sword in the sense that it's the thing that brings me the most joy and yet it's the thing that can hurt the most. It's inevitable when you love something so purely, when you love somebody beyond the way you love yourself.

Somehow, most days, it's the hardest to find that sweet spot of loving your child just enough so that they know it without causing him or myself damage. Every morning, I struggle to leave because it's when we bond the most, but at the same time, I don't want be late for work. I have to manage our finances well but every car and musical toy and pajama set and comfy shirt seem for Reese seem to wink at me. These are everyday choices as parents and most days, I have to keep "personal score" to make sure that I'm not leaning too much towards one side.

So yes, I'm usually aligaga, still trying to figure out how to be a good parent and balancing it between cooking meals and being a wife and work and part time jobs and mountaineering and family stuff. I hope that you, my dear reader is doing just fine doing more or less the same thing. Until the next post!

Boon Tong Kee- Good Food, no questions asked

After our Boon Tong Kee experience, I kept scolding myself for not trying Singaporean food much sooner. You see, one of the signature dishes of Singaporean food is chili crab(from what I heard) and I am not a fan of it plus adding the fact that I associate the cuisine with Indian food(not a big fan), it was the worst combo for somebody who hasnt tried the food before. Nonetheless, I saw a voucher on metrodeal and since we would be in the area on that day, I decided to give it a go.

Anyhow, I expected that our 2,000 worth of voucher would be consumed but I was surprised that we only ordered 1,400 worth for our dine-in purchase. It came as a surprise because even though each item was more expensive than what I would normally pay for, it was reeeeeeeally filling.

Let's start with the Bacon Meatball and Foo Chow Soup. It's 195php and good for 3-4. The bacon meatballs were served with these crispy strips that were absolutely delicious. I also loved that the broth was yummy but not overpowering and tasted like it was made from fresh ingredients and not that much artificial flavoring.

Next were the signature boiled chicken, hakaw and crispy deep fried chicken. All three dishes were served at roughly the same time and I enumerated them in decreasing satisfaction. 

I liked the signature boiled chicken the most probably because I set very low expectations. For someone who hasnt tried the dish before, I was expecting it to be very bland. True to that, the chicken was bland but it wasn't malansa and the sauce definitely made all the difference. Hubby was quite disappointed with the serving size but I thought it was okay since we had other dishes to try.

Next was the hakaw. I was almost certain that there were two shrimps when I took a bite but it wasnt as good as I wanted it to be because the wrapper broke. I think good hakaw has to have soft enough wrapper that doesnt break when you get it from the bamboo container.

Not bad for 125 :)

Lastly for this batch was deep fried chicken. I have nothing much to say except that it was average and very similar to the Savory chicken.

The last two served were the sambal rice and the cream cheese prawns and this is where it gets really interesting. The food attendant kept remind me(as if to discourage me) that the sambal rice was spicy so I kept telling her that we wanted it(my husband and yaya are both Bicolano, so there goes). The cream cheese was recommended on websites so I decided to give it a try.

The sambal rice(Not sure but I think it was at 295php) was, indeed, spicy, even for my Bicolano companions and even more so for me so I had to pair it with plain rice. Nonetheless, the flavor was really good, given the mix of peanuts and pork bits that I saw and though it was packed with flavor, it didnt clash with the other dishes.

The crackers were a nice addition, I'm guessing to pass time while waiting for the other dishes? hehehe

The cream cheese prawns(375 or 395php) really surprised me though. I was expecting it to be salty, like the nacho dips, but it was sweet. It was so creamy and the sauce was good, I wish we could take it home because I imagined that it would also pair well with chicken. The prawns were huge and all three of us who were so used to eating it with our bare hands had quite a hard time deconstructing each piece.

served with mantau, which I didnt like so no pic of that :)

At this point hubby was complaining from being too full(Yep, we're weird that way) ahahaha so he refused to partake in the chocolate almond jelly we ordered. It wasn't exceptional, but just right to wash down the rich taste of the dishes.

All in all, I would recommend eating in Boon Tong Kee for those "kinda special" eat outs like birthdays. Bear in mind that servings are good for 3-4 except the rice and the desserts or stated otherwise but I guess you need to order at least three main dishes to enjoy the experience. 

Till the next parenting or travel or food adventure!