The Greedy Monkey- A short story written and illustrated by Brian

                                              
 My 8 year old son Brian bought home a little book he made in school, and it's titled "The Greedy Monkey".
It was handwritten, illustrated and completely inspired by a movie we saw in Lantau Island in Hong Kong.

 Once upon a time in the rainforest there was a greedy monkey.  The greedy monkey ordered the other monkeys to give him bananas.  He would say " Give me bananas!"

 The other monkeys asked him, " Can I have some of your bananas?"  He said, "NO!  YOU CAN"T HAVE THESE BANANAS!"

The other monkeys worked for him for several days.  When they got tired of it, they said they quit!  The monkey said "Where are the other monkeys?"

When he found them he said,"Can you please work for me? They said "NO!"  The monkey said, "I will share you my bananas".  They said "OK."  The end....

Sounds like my son will grow up to be a  business manager...  or a people manager- managing people to work for your business.

Lots a Pizza free!- a BPI Real Thrill treat!

Do not throw away those charge slips amounting to 1,500 from your BPI Credit card.

BPI real thrills starting December 10, 2010 to February 28, 2011 gives you a 14 inch Great Manhattan pizza free! Redemption is until April 30, 2011.

This promo runs after the Jollibee December promo and overlaps with the Pizza Hut/Dairy Queen/ Taco Bell promo from February 8 to February 28, 2011.

So from February 8 to 28 you get to choose between Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Dairy Queen and Lots a Pizza.

Ok....more reason to....... charge it!

For the list of Lots of Pizza shops visit http://www.lotsapizza.com.ph/branches

BPI Real Thrills starting February 8, 2011

Yipee! BPI Real Thrills starting February 8, 2011 to May 7, 2011, Every purchase of at least 1,500 pesos using my BPI Express Credit Card and BPI ATM Express Payment System gives me free meals to no less than 3 restaurant choices:
From PIZZA HUT:

At least P 1,500- 1 Ceasar salad OR 1 Personal Pan Pizza
At least P 5,000- 1 Regular Supreme Pan pizza
At least P 10,000- 1 Family Supreme Stuffed Crust Pizza OR 1 Family Supreme Pan Pizza

From DAIRY QUEEN:

At least P 1,500- 2 Dilly Bars OR 2 DQ Sandwiches
At least P 5,000- 3 Sundaes OR 3 12oz Shake OR 2 9oz Regular Blizzard
At least P10,000- 3 Dilly Bars Or 3 DQSandwiches & 3 9oz Regular Blizzard
OR
- 4 Dilly Bars or 4 DQ Sandwiches & 4 12oz Shakes
OR
- 4 Dilly Bars or 4 DQ Sandwiches & 4 Sundaes
From TACO BELL: (my personal favorite :) )

At least P 1,500- Any 2 Affordabelles
At least P 5,000- Any 5 Affordabelles
At least P 10,000- Any 3 Fiesta Platters
Wow! More reason to make those purchases total up to at least P 1,500. I LOVE MY BPI! :)

My Salcedo Market find

We visited the Salcedo Market for the first time last Saturday. I was surprised at the variety of food they have.

This French/ European man is selling breakfast Galette. An order of buckwheat galette with gruyere cheese and home made sausage cost 130 pesos, and they give you a small portion of side salad with vinagrette for free. (But they ask you first- you have to say YES)

I didn't buy this Himalayan Crystal Salt, although I was a little fascinated with their pink color.

They have all these fresh seafood and I didn't bring my Coleman cooler! Shucks!

Look at all those Dairy products from Rizal Dairy Farms! http://rizaldairy.com/

I bought two of these Baguio strawberry packs for 60 pesos each. February must be strawberry season in Baguio. Can't have enough of it.

Its a good thing that we visited the market 2 days after the Chinese New Year. So we get to see some live dragon action!

I'm not a big fan of Tapang Usa. I tried it once and the flavor is so overwhelming. No, I can't have that

So here are my meager purchases. Strawberries, roasted sweet corn, meringue-for my kids (because they learned to spell them in school) and a French pistachio macaroon.

I loved the Pistachio macaroon. Its nutty, slightly sweet, has a firm texture and very buttery in the middle. Perfect!

I'm sure my macaroon will be perfect with these organic tea. Look at all those colors!

Weekend vacation

Spent the weekend in Picasso Boutique Serviced Residences, quite a mouthful, in simpler words- Picasso Residence/ Hotel.

As its name implies, its an art gallery-hotel place. You can purchase the art works hanging on just about every corner of the nine storey residence.

The Picasso Residence is located at 119 L.P. Leviste Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City. Its a short walk to Salcedo Market, so we timed our visit on a market Saturday.

We spent the night in Malaga studio with this LCD television and free WIFI and computer usage.

Artworks are just about everywhere. This heavilly embelished horse with its strobe lights always welcome us in the lobby.

Picasso Boutique Serviced Residences 63 2 8284774 www.picassomakati.com

I've got mail!

Look what turned up in my mail today. An 8 inch chef knife!

Gastro Chef has an annual contest for the whole month of December, prizes range from knives, wine holders, to sandwich boards. All products are designed in Denmark and made in the Philippines.

Everyday they give you a survey question to answer. There are no right and wrong answer, you just have to take the time to answer them.

Each question is worth one entry.

This year I won this gorgeous 8"chef knife with its Philippine Rosewood handle

http://gastrochef.christmascalendar.net/
I take my knives very personally, I need them to be durable, functionally sharp, and just the right weight in my hand.

I've seen knives bought from home shopping ads that have flimsy blade that bend on you when you slice.
Its all very dangerous when they bend and you get to slice your fingers instead of that carrot.

Gastro Chef Knives are very tough. They have a metal blade that runs all the way to the handle. The Blade is very thick and the knife puts just the right amount of weight in my hand.
I love it!

Mommy-fy-d Muffins

Today's after school snack. Its a simplified recipe of store bought Pancake Batter, chocolate bar and whatever fruit I have in my kitchen ( which happens to be bananas).

Ingredients:
200 grams Pancake Batter Mix
1/2 Cup water
1 whole egg, beaten
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1/2 bar of chocolate (mine is Toblerone),chopped to resemble chips
1 fruit at hand ( bananas today) sliced thinly

Procedure:
1. Mix together Pancake Batter Mix, water, egg and melted butter, DO NOT OVER MIX. You will have a lumpy batter.
2. add chocolate bar-chips
3. put in muffin pan lined with muffin paper.
4. add sliced bananas on top
5. Turbo Broiler in 375 degrees for 25 minutes.
6. Leave it inside the Turbo Broiler for a while to firm up muffins.
Enjoy!