Harry Potter 7 part 2 and Tender Bob's

 On the third Saturday of this month me and my friend Therese decided to have lunch at Tender Bob's after watching the last installment of the Harry Potter movie saga. We have planned this day for weeks knowing that there will be an early reservation for a Harry Potter movie. We've learned our lesson before not to take chances with Harry Potter or we'll end up falling in a very long line or not be able to watch the movie at all due to limited seats. So, we always reserve in advance a week or two before the showing. We didn't want to watch it in 3D. We wanted to concentrate more on the story than the effects. After the movie though I'm thinking maybe watching it in 3D would have been better since there's not much story to hang on to. Anyway I didn't cry during the movie. Only afterwards when I got home and my family wanted me to give detailed accounts of what I saw then did I start to feel a lump in my throat for Prof. Snape and also then did I realize what a wonderful story it is. But maybe I felt teary eyed also because I'm going to miss all of them. Just like Harry and the gang it's the end of our youthful days and it's time to move on. Someday I'm sure HBO or Star Movies will have a Harry Potter marathon in their channel. I'm sure I would be one to watch that.

After a very intense movie it's nice to know you'll be dining in a good place. Tender Bob's is known for their steaks and Therese had always loved them so this is where we had lunch. I ordered their USDA Prime Ribeye Steak (6 oz) because it's what they're known for and even though I rarely order steak I remember I'm always fond of them. My good experiences were at Stone Grill and Circles in Shangri-La Hotel. I loved both their steaks and I always ask for medium rare. So that's what I got at Tender Bob's as well. Therese didn't order their USDA because she was concerned of the taste. She even asked the waitress what they'll put in it and the response was just salt and pepper. Therese knew it will be bland for her so she didn't order it. I think it would be the same with most Filipinos. This didn't stop me though. Ever since my "less-carb" diet my taste had become sensitive and I started appreciating less salty and less sugary food. I'm glad for this because I really appreciated their USDA Prime Ribeye. As you can see it's not that thick but it made me full fast. It's so juicy, tender and you can taste the high grade meat if you're not using any condiments. I was racing against time because the room was cold and my steak was getting cold fast. I knew it wouldn't taste good if it's not warm. My mouth is watering now just by looking at it and remembering the taste. I would definitely go back to this resto again.

Tender Bob's USDA Prime Ribeye Steak - Hungry size 6 oz. - medium rare

Since Therese wanted medium well and more flavor in her meats she ordered their Baby Back ribs and Porter House Steak from their Domestic Premium Steaks line. I tried her Baby Back Ribs and it was superb. Very soft and tender unlike from other restaurants that seemed dry and overcooked. The Porter House was flavorful indeed perfect for Filipino taste. Since I only tasted these I'll definitely come back again and order a plate for myself.

Tender Bob's Baby Back Ribs

Tender Bob's Porter House Steak

harry potter
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Kindle 3

I've always loved books ever since college. Before that, I was just any normal teenager who would read teen novels like Sweet Dreams and Sweet Valley series. When I was in high school I always wondered what it's like to hangout in the library. I think I tried once or twice but got intimidated by the studious people there. I knew I wasn't one of them and don't want to be thought as one. How small my world is back then. It's those times I just wanted to be invisible. In college I moved and boarded in Manila, became a little independent... and lonely as well. I guess that's when I found books to be a good and patient friend, always there waiting to entertain when you find yourself in between classes with nothing to do or when your roommates went home to their provinces during the weekends. Of course I was eager to read novels than to study my texts back then. I even went to this cute little place in the mall. It's like a library but you have to pay for your membership and you can hangout there and drink coffee and tea. I love that little place and would go there during my free hours to read and to borrow books. When I started working that's when I started to buy books. It was a bit of a drag because most books aren't available in our country and you have to pre-order and wait for months. By this time the internet was already at full bloom so I know what are available in the market. Over the years I have come to buy less than five books a year because it was expensive. Of course I like watching movies as well and going out with friends so paying a small fortune for books is not a priority for me. And ebooks online doesn't interest me at all. I work on a PC all day and tire my eyes out so I don't want to spend my leisure reading time there as well. Until the Kindle came.

I was already hearing about e-readers but I thought they were the same as the tablets out there (iPad, Galaxy). Knowing that it's just a mini PC didn't entice me at all since it will hurt my eyes. It's only recently that a friend introduced me to the third generation Kindle. She told me it uses electronic ink so it won't hurt my eyes and will be like a real book. It also has Wi-Fi capabilities. I got interested but I didn't think of buying it at first. Then I realized I need something that has Wi-Fi so I can monitor my work wherever I go. I didn't want another cell phone. I still love my old pink one. The tablets are way expensive and useless for me. The Kindle was perfect. It's cheap, has Wi-Fi, it's an e-book reader and it's good looking. So, I bought my very first e-book reader. Now I have access to millions and millions of e-books now and they are so much cheaper than real books. I'm so happy!

So here's my Kindle 3. It's been with me for more than a month now and there's not a night I haven't slept without picking it up first to read. It's been a good companion and I don't have any reason to be bored anymore. I love its style and sleekness. I love the screensavers. I love the page turning buttons. I love the screen. It's any book lovers dream.

The Amazon Kindle box that was delivered to me

Opening the box. I already took out the Kindle and this is what's underneath

USB cable and electrical plug

The Kindle Third Generation

The current screensaver is the Hercules constellation

It's very light

Longer than a pen...

...but thinner than a pen

I've also ordered the Amazon Kindle Lighted Leather Cover as well. It's a bit expensive but it will be useful when I put my Kindle inside my bag for protection. The light inside the cover is so cute. It's very useful when there's a power outage or if you don't want to disturb your partner during his/her sleep.

Amazon Kindle Lighted Leather Cover box

Simple but tough

When you first open it there's an instruction booklet inside

Fitting my kindle in the cover using the metal hinges

My kindle with the leather cover

Leather cover with the light pulled out

When you wake up the Kindle you turn on the light as well

The light is pretty bright even on daylight

There's three LED light bulbs in there

I've also bought a silicon case to use when I'm at home only. It's great protection for your Kindle. I'm sure it'll absorb shock when you drop it. So far I haven't had an accident to test it yet and will not likely to do it on purpose. I tried putting an anti-glare screen protector as well but there were bubbles on it so I had to take it off. You cannot read with even the smallest bubbles. Many people say they like using the Kindle naked anyway since the screen is pretty tough and scratch resistant and putting screen protectors just add glare. The following pictures will show the silicone case as well as what the Kindle looks like when in use.

Kindle with silicone case

Kindle at Home screen showing my book collections

Kindle at Home screen

Kindle while reading a book

Kindle while reading

The Kindle I bought is the one with special offers. It's cheaper but it will have ads on the screensaver and home screen when you register your Kindle at Amazon. The previous pics shows that I haven't registered yet and the pictures below will show what the ads look like after registration. The advertisements only shows in the screensaver and the home screen only and will not pop up while you're reading. I wouldn't mind the advertisements at all if only they were more artistic like the screensavers before registering. But I am interested in downloading the latest ads. I'm hoping they would make it prettier and more Kindle appropriate though. I think if they just put some classic art on it and put a text somewhere about their product I would love them (the sponsors) more for it.

Home screen with ads

Screensaver with ad

Screensaver with another ad

Screensaver with an automobile ad

Home screen with the automobile ad

Kindle with browsing capability

bookbooksebookskindlereading

Cielin's Mango Cake

Out of the blue we just decided to buy Cielin's Mango Cake since the price isn't that too high unlike the commercial cakes out there.  And we added our favorite cupcakes as well!

This Mango Cake became my older sister's favorite cake. Well  not really favorite but she plans on giving this cake to her friends. She said it's great to give as a gift or for parties. It's refreshing and not too sweet. The icing tastes like whipped cream with mango bits and it served as a filling as well. I actually love the icing and wished there was more of it. It reminds me of my mom's refrigerator cake with lots of cream. The cake itself as usual is soft and fresh as what you would expect of Cielin's. This mango cake might look simple but you can't go wrong with it. I'm sure everybody will love this one.

Cielin's Mango Cake

Cielin's Mango Cake (slice)

Cielin's Mango cake (better view of filling)

Cielin's cupcakes - strawberry (for me), mocha (for younger sis) and cheese tart (for older sis)

food
desserts
cakes

Cielin's Pandan Cake

On my payday I decided to try one of Cielin's cakes to treat my family with and their Pandan Cake is what I chose. I've been wanting to try it ever since I saw it in their Facebook page. I love everything green especially in food and I also love the refreshing taste of pandan so that explains my craving for this one. This particular cake you have to order one day ahead. They don't keep it in stock probably because it taste best fresh. From my experience with it, it taste great even in the next day and the next.

The pandan flavor is in the cake itself and not in the icing. It's not really overpowering but you can taste right away the flavor on the first bite. I was expecting the icing to be refreshing but it's made up of butter with green coloring in it and no pandan so expect the icing to harden a bit when it's cooled. The brown you see on top are grated chocolate. I thought it was muscovado at first or some kind of brown grated coconut hehe. As usual the cake is soft probably because Cielin's cakes are always fresh. So, this was just a simple Pandan cake with butter icing. I guess I was expecting too much of a traditional Filipino dish like buko pandan and expected everything to be refreshing. Also I don't like butter icing too much. When I was a kid our birthday cakes are usually made up of this kind of icing and maybe I got tired of it. But for those who love butter icings or old fashioned cakes this will be a real treat.  My family actually loved this pandan cake and it's become a favorite of my mom and brother. Me? I would buy it again but not anytime soon unless my siblings are craving for it right away. All in all I think this is a fair cake especially for its price and would go great with tea.

Cielin's Cakehouse box

Cielin's Pandan Cake

Cielin's Pandan Cake

Cielin's Pandan Cake (slice)

Cielin's Pandan Cake (cross-section)

food
desserts
cakes