Psalm 139

Psalm 139

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart

    and know everything about me.

2 You know when I sit down or stand up.

    You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

3 You see me when I travel

    and when I rest at home.

    You know everything I do.

4 You know what I am going to say

    even before I say it, Lord.

5 You go before me and follow me.

    You place your hand of blessing on my head.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

    too great for me to understand!

7 I can never escape from your Spirit!

    I can never get away from your presence!

8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;

    if I go down to the grave,[a] you are there.

9 If I ride the wings of the morning,

    if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

10 even there your hand will guide me,

    and your strength will support me.

11 I could ask the darkness to hide me

    and the light around me to become night—

12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

To you the night shines as bright as day.

    Darkness and light are the same to you.

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body

    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,

    as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

16 You saw me before I was born.

    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

    before a single day had passed.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me,[b] O God.

    They cannot be numbered!

18 I can’t even count them;

    they outnumber the grains of sand!

And when I wake up,

    you are still with me!

***

Dear Heavenly Father & Creator,

It's amazing how in the scripture is says that you know everything about me--the number of hair stands I have on my head, my innermost thoughts--and how each and every single day of my life is already laid out even before I was born. This is how intimate You are to me, Lord. This is how precious I am to you. I can't even begin to understand & imagine how big your love is for me. Who am I before you, Lord? Nothing but a speck of dust in this vast galaxy you have created.

No matter how hard I try, no matter what I do, I know that there's nothing I could do to ever deserve this from You. May You help me not to forget that. May everything that I do be a reflection of gratitude for your grace that You so abundantly showered on me, and when I fall short, help me remember that that Your love is unconditional.   

Your daughter,

Yza

Bangkok 2016 - Day 1

Felt so good to back at one of my favorite cities ever, Bangkok! I, together with two of my friends went on a short trip to BKK last March. It was a much needed breather from our busy lives in Manila. Four straight days of laughter, BTS rides, shopping, awesome food, and four straight days of seeing my love's face--Mario Maurer, practically everywhere around the city, Haha! What's not to love about Bangkok? ♥

I didn't take much photos on this trip--for a change--because I wanted to be in present, in the moment. Char! Here's our Day 1: 

PRE DEPARTURE AT NAIA TERMINAL 3

• Checked in, grabbed some coffee & exchanged currencies

I didn't have any US Dollars at the time and just exchanged my Philippine Peso straight to Thai Baht. I actually like this idea better. I computed and found out that I actually got more out of my Peso. 

DAY 1

We took a 6:20 am flight via Cebu Pacific so we could maximize our first day in Bangkok. :) 

• Arrival at Suvarnabhumi International Airport

Our I-had-no-sleep-but-I'm-excited morning faces :)

• Bought an AIS Traveller SIM Card at the Arrival Hall - THB 299

• Made our way to our Airbnb flat via Airport Rail Link--Suvarnabhumi Airport to Phaya Thai Station, a one way trip cost us  THB 45. So convenient! I envy Bangkok's efficient transport system. Hay.

We made it to our flat in less than an hour. The flat my friend, Nino booked was fantastic! Based on its location & the security of the building itself, I could easily tell that it's one of the better condominiums in Bangkok. In other words, it was very yayamanin. It had everything you'd need--high speed wifi, a functional modern kitchen, condiments, toiletries, etc. It was all provided for.  And to add to that, the host & her family were great too! I'll share more about my first Airbnb experience in a separate post.

After freshening up & resting for a bit, we went out for lunch.

• Lunch at Siam Paragon...McDonald's! Haha We had a food tour scheduled that evening so we decided to reserve our appetite for Thai food. ;)

Chicken Nam Tok Rice for THB 69

I think this is the Thai counterpart of our Crispy Chicken Fillet meal. I love how "fresh" it is even though it's practically fast food. It's crunchy, spicy & tangy! Everything about this dish works. Really good! I hope they’ll still have this on the menu next time I visit Thailand.

Sorry not sorry. I just had to. Haha! An obligatory photo when in Thailand

And this is how they show BFF affection. How sweet are these two?

• After lunch we took the BTS to Asok. We still had hours to spare before the food tour, so I took my friends to Terminal 21. 

Terminal 21 is a multi-level travel themed mall. Each level is a different city. It’s a great place for photo ops! The mall was so well thought of that you’d even want to enter & take photos inside every restroom. I know I did!

There's no shame in love, yes? Hahaha

We went window shopping and settled at the food court (Pier 21, San Francisco floor) to buy something to drink. Of course, I got Cha Yen/Iced Thai Milk Tea! Oh how I missed it! During the trip, I drank it maybe once or twice, by “one or twice” I mean maybe a couple of hundred times. See what I did there? Waley. Hahaha Ang sarap talaga!

After what seemed like forever, we were still too early for the food tour. But since we wanted to avoid the rush hour (We had “Manila MRT rush hour” in mind. Mahirap na. Haha), we already went to the food tour’s designated meeting place.

Figuring out how to get to Sam Yan Station

• We took the MRT to Sam Yan Station that's connected to Chamchuri Square, the meet up point.

To be honest, aside from eating, there’s literally nothing, nothing to do there. This is when good company comes in handy! Time flew with nonstop stories & laughs with Nino & Nessa.

A little before 8:00 pm, we finally met our food tour guide & fellow tour mates!

• With an open mind & an empty stomach (Sorry for the geeky foodie “Iron Chef” reference. Hehe), we were so ready to take on the Bangkok food scene! The tour we signed up for was the Midnight Food Tour by Bangkok Food Tours. The fee included our very own tuktuk for the duration of the tour & a ride back to our flat. How convenient!

Here's a photo of us from our tour guide, Phang.

Looking all tired & haggard at one of the "secret" roof top bars in Bangkok, Wat Pho all lit up as our background  

I'll post more about this tour in detail soon but just to give you an idea, within the span of 4 hours, we had about 3 dinners with drinks, dessert & street food in between. We were so full towards the end of the trip, we almost gave up...but of course, we didn't. Hahaha 

The food tour ended past midnight, our last stop being arguably the best Pad Thai place in Bangkok. Yes, we ended the tour by having carbs at midnight. The food tour was quite pricey but it was worth every Baht. I highly recommend it. :)

That sums up Day 1 of our 4-day Bangkok trip. Long, tiring, but definitely fun! Part 2 up next.

Thanks for reading! ♥

Hugs, 

Yza

A Reintro

It's been more than a year since I've been on a blog hiatus--well, this isn't the first time. In my defense though this time around, a lot, I mean, a lot of things has happened.

I must say that the past 10 months has been the most exciting, challenging, and fulfilling time yet in my life--yes, I am now I full-fledged entrepreneur. Woot! I shall blog about that very soon. It's been long past due. Hahaha I'm working on it. ;) It still feels surreal whenever I think about how fast everything happened, at a time when I least expected it to happen. The "inspiration" folder that's been on my files for years has finally been brought to life. Truly, the God's timing is always perfect. No doubt about that. 

Jeremiah 29:11New International Version (NIV)

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

This new road I'm on hasn't been easy. I've shed tears, have gotten to know a side(s) of me I never knew existed, had my share of curve balls thrown at me, made mistakes & bad decisions, but I really wouldn't have it any other way. Through those experiences I learned, got braver, tougher--tougher than I thought I could be.

Now, enough of the rambling and onto the real "reintro"...

I'm Yzabel, a 20-something-year-old chef-entrepreneur, whose life can be summed up with these 5 Fs: FOOD, FAITH, FANGIRL-ING, FAMILY & FRIENDS. :) These are basically the things I blog about, and please keep your fingers crossed with me as I challenge myself with blogging once again. Have lots of things I've been meaning to share. :)

Hugs,

Yza

Morelli's Gelato Caffe

The Italian Film Festival was held last July 23-27, 2014 at the Shang Cineplex of the Shangri-la Plaza. I went on the 26th and watched the film, "Il Sud E Niente" with one of my high school best friends. And what better way to cap off our Saturdate than with a cup of gelato? :) Thank you, Rizzy for the treat!

I usually go to Gelatissimo for my gelato fix, but that day, I gave Morelli's a try.

My friend and I got two scoops of Pistachio and a scoop of Hazelnut. I'm a BIG gelato fan, and I judge a gelato shops by how their Pistachio flavor tastes like because I'm a Pistachio gelato snob like that. 

The thing I loved about Morelli's is how smooth their gelato is. I mean, gelato's really supposed to be smooth but Morelli's gelato has the smoothest texture I've tried so far. I also like how their gelato's not too sweet. It's a tad less sweet than the gelati from Gelatissimo, and it's affordable too! 

Overall, I like Morelli's and I highly recommend it, but Gelatissimo still reigns supreme on my list. ;) Maybe it's because they add Pistachios on my gelato for free and give out free scoops from time to time. Haha! Maybe. Just maybe.

Global Taste of Korea Contest 2014: Philippine Leg

About a month ago, a good friend of mine, Nadine encouraged me to submit an application for the the Global Taste of Korea Contest 2014. I had to come up with a recipe (or two) of a traditional Korean or fusion dish, and had to answer some questions as well. Being the Korea fanatic that I am, I finalized and passed my application online all in one day. Talk about enthusiastic. This contest's perfect for me. Two of my passions: FOOD and KOREA.

A couple of weeks later, I received an email from the Korean Cultural Center saying that I'm one of the finalists for the contest. I was ecstatic...at first. I found out that we're 28 finalists in total. Oh come on. The contest was open to both professional chefs and amateur cooks, so the thought of having to compete against 27 of them worried me. I mean, what are the chances of me, winning against all those talented people? See the optimistic person that I am? Haha! But I went to the contest finals anyway.  

The final round for the Philippine Leg of the competition was held last June 27, 2014 at the Lyceum Culinary Institute of the Philippines. We, the contestants were divided into three batches since we were too many, I guess. 

Photo by Nadine Postigo, Worldwide Korea Blogger

I was part of Batch 2, and arrived a little early before our call time. I was so nervous, as usual, but the thought of having a friend (Hello Zai!) as my assistant, and having one of  the media people as a friend (Hi Nadine!) kept me sane.

By 12:30 pm, we were oriented on the mechanics and rules of the competition. We were all given an hour to prepare and cook our dishes. After an hour, we were to present and explain our dishes to the judges. It was very much a la Iron Chef. Haha! One thing that really adjusted me though was when they said that the assistants won't be allowed in the kitchen during the "hour of battle". Haha! That really worried me because I'm quite slow in the kitchen. I already had a game plan with my assistant in mind, but that totally went out the window at that moment. I was all by myself, and there was no turning back. Chos!

This is me in action! Haha The contestant beside me was from Global Culinary & Hospitality Academy as well. Global represent! :)
Photo by Nadine Postigo, Worldwide Korea Blogger

Photo by Nadine Postigo, Worldwide Korea Blogger

I was aiming to make two fusion dishes in one hour. Ambitious, eh? I had things planned out in my head, but seriously, things just don't go as planned specially if you have a one hour time limit.

Photo by Nadine Postigo, Worldwide Korea Blogger

With 50 minutes down, and 10 minutes to go, I only had one solid dish I'm certain I can present to the judges. My other dish still lacked a few components and I haven't even started with the sauce yet. But what the heck, I'll keep cooking to the very last minute, I told myself. True enough, at the very last minute, I was plating my second dish, throwing random components on the plate. Haha! It DIDN'T look pretty, but I finished on time. That's what matters. I still had to worry how I'm going to present my dishes to the judges. "Public speaking" isn't my forte. It's one of the the things I dread the most!

The panel of judges
Photo by Nadine Postigo, Worldwide Korea Blogger

Batch 2 Dishes
Photo by Nadine Postigo, Worldwide Korea Blogger

I was up first in presenting. There was only one Filipino judge, all the rest were Korean, and that added to my nervousness. But then again, I kept telling myself that I should already be proud that I finished in an hour. :) I was.

I presented two fusion dishes: 1) Sinjjigae - Sinigang + Kimchi Jjigae, which I have to add, the judges found clever. One of the judges even said, she loved how I named it. Hahaha! 

2) Bibimbap Sarap/Bibimbap Fusion - I incorporated Filipino flavors such as that of the adobo, and both green/unripe and ripe mangoes into the popular Korean dish. It was sweet, spicy, salty & tangy, with quite a lot of texture coming from the different vegetables.

This was my practice dish. The actual one I presented was so ugly, I didn't even bother taking a photo of it. Haha! It tasted better than this though. ;)

It was definitely the longest yet shortest hour (yeah, it's possible) of my life. Yeah, of course I wanted to win and have a shot in winning the USD 10,000 in Korea, but seriously, I was just so happy and relieved and didn't present an empty plate. That alone was an achievement for me! *pats myself in the back*

I had to wait for 3 more hours before the awarding ceremony because there was still one batch of contestants left, and the organizers still had to prepare. Again, I was so glad to have Zai & Nadine there to keep me company. :) Plus, Nadine really had to wait out too since she was going to write an article about the event. Haha!

Three hours later, it was already the moment of truth.

Ms. Linh Dalangin, KCC Events Coordinator hosted the ceremony
Photo by Nadine Postigo, Worldwide Korea Blogger

Minister Min Kyong-Ho of the Embassy of South Korea
Seeing him there made me realize, that yeah, maybe this contest is a big deal. Haha!
Photo by Nadine Postigo, Worldwide Korea Blogger

All of the contestants were given a Certificate of Recognition.
The paper bags alone already made me happy. I have a weird thing for nice paper bags. Hahaha!
Photo by Nadine Postigo, Worldwide Korea Blogger

And now, the winners...

2nd runner up: John Ignacio from CCA Manila

He made Galbi Jjim but used European cooking techniques.

Photo by Nadine Postigo, Worldwide Korea Blogger

By this time, I already had zero expectation of winning anything. The second runner up's dish was nicely done & he knew what he was talking about. There was no chance that I could possibly win...

...but then I did!

1st runner up: Yzabel Montealegre from ICIF and Global Culinary & Hospitality Academy *throws confetti*

My friends and I were so shocked, that I even let out a loud "Whaaaaat?" Haha! IT WAS ALL GOD. :) I give it all back to Him. It's crazy!

First runner up ain't so shabby right? It's instant USD 500 (and other gifts) for me, and if for some reason the champ can't go to Korea for the finals, I automatically get his/her place. I doubt that that will happen though. Haha!

Chef Dan Basilio, LPU Culinary Institute Director and I
Photo by Nadine Postigo, Worldwide Korea Blogger

Champion: Mark Tee from UP and Woosong University

He made Samgyetang with a modern twist.

Photo by Nadine Postigo, Worldwide Korea Blogger

Mark gets to go to Seoul for 2-week culinary tour and gets compete against 13 other countries for a shot in winning USD 10,000 and the title of Honorary Korean Cuisine Ambassador. Of course, I wanted to win the Grand Prize, but he deserved it! He was confident, really knew what he was talking about, and he seemed like a nice, talented young chef. Wishing him all the best for the Global Finals! :) 

Thank you Korean Cultural Center of the Philippines for organizing this event! :) I had fun and it surely made me want to learn more about Korean cuisine. My love for all things Korea's finally paying off. Hahaha! Looking forward to more!

KCC's so generous!

Under the Tree Book Cafe 나무아래

Annyeonghaseyo 안녕하세요!

I spent the weekend enjoying the cool weather in Baguio & found one other thing to love about city...

Under the Tree Book Cafe

Yes, my dear friends, it's the Under the Tree Book Cafe. 

Who would have thought that amidst the hustle and bustle of a bus station there'd be a gem? Well, there is. You just have to look up. Literally. The coffee shop is located up on the second floor of a Geney's Ramyeon House, that's right beside Andok's. That part of the city is really busy so I was pleasantly surprised to have found cute & cozy Korean cafe there.

The cafe's counter & one of the baristas who happens to be Korean. ^^

As the name suggests, it is a book cafe so you can expect to see a lot of books and some magazines. The books are mostly Korean, but there are some English materials too. 

Some Korean novels

I was told that the cafe owner & staff are Christians. :)

One common thing I've noticed about independent Korean cafes is their wall of sticky notes. You sure can expect that from this coffee shop too. Lots and lots of sticky notes!

Hundreds of sticky notes!

Someone with OCD would've freaked out by the sight of the differently shaped & colored notes on the wall, but I actually find it quite charming. I think it gives character to the place and makes it more inviting. It doesn't hurt that it makes a cool photo op background too. ;)

Since my siblings & I just had dinner prior to going to the cafe, we opted to just have some drinks.

Right: Iced Mocha - Php 75.00
Middle: Iced Hazelnut Latte - Php 70.00
Right: Iced Chocolate Latte - Php 70.00

My Iced Hazelnut Latte

It was a bit stuffy that evening so the three of us had cold drinks. I ordered an Iced Hazelnut Latte & tried my siblings' drinks as well. I can be a Starbucks snob sometimes, but Under the Tree Book Cafe's coffee was actually quite good! The only complain I have is that it tastes milkier than the latte I'm used to, but other than that I give it a thumbs up. I also love the fact that nothing's over a hundred pesos on their drink menu (if I'm not mistaken). :) I'm definitely adding Under the Tree to my list of fav cafes!

Under the Tree Book Cafe 나무아래 (Na-mu-a-rae)

#26 Baden Powell Inn,
Governor Pack Road, Baguio City

*It's very near SM Baguio but can be difficult to spot. Look for this sign:

Business Hours:

Monday - Saturday: 10:00 am to 9:00 pm
Sunday: 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm

The Iscreamist

I'm back for a quick post about a place I've been wanting to try out for the longest time...The Iscreamist!

While a lot of people are in Boracary celebrating LaBoracay, I was having a LaBoringDay here in Manila. Weh. Excuse my poor sense of humor. Haha! April's been a busy month for me (and my family), so we didn't have any solid plans for the summer. Plus, my sister's school year didn't end up until the third week of April.

So yesterday was pretty random. My sister & I went to my church ministry's sportsfest from morning til afternoon, then decided to head on where our feet will take us. Since we were already in Katipunan, we thought of finally trying out The Iscreamist!

Photo taken from their Facebook page

The place was packed, as expected. The entire place could only accommodate 15 people, so we had to wait quite a bit to get a table. Turnover was actually quite fast since while you're channeling your inner child in amazement, people who are waiting for a table are watching you. It was awkward. Hahaha! We only stayed for about 15-20 minutes tops.

There were only a few choices on the menu. I decided to go for the Dragon's Breath, since that's what everyone's has been raving about.

4 pcs of S'mores with Liquid Nitrogen - Php 65.00
2 pcs of Macarons with Liquid Nitrogen - Php 75.00

Look at those cups! Notice how frozen they are!

Our order was served on a slate, cups of liquid nitrogen in the middle then s'mores & macarons on sticks around it.

We were told to wait for seven seconds before we started dipping, and after that, we dipped away! All you have to do is get a s'more or macaron on a stick and dip it into the liquid nitrogen. A few seconds later, take it out of the cup, and tada! There it is frozen and covered in smoke! I'm already a 20-something year old but I have to admit that I found it amusing! 

Taste-wise, the s'mores and macarons were just okay, but what made it really special was the whole experience of dipping it into a cup of liquid nitrogen. They also serve (some uniquely flavored) nitrogen ice cream for Php 150.00 per order, but we didn't try those out so I can't really say much about it yet.

"Panakot"/a word of caution from The Iscreamist--Hahaha!

Overall, I recommend The Iscreamist if you want to try out something new, exciting and amusing. :) Things on the menu are affordable and unique. Again, I'd like to reiterate that place is very small and it's very likely that there'd be a queue.

The Iscreamist

46 D Magiting St. Teacher's Village,

East Diliman, Quezon City

Business Hours:

Monday - Sunday

1:00 pm - 10:00 pm (last seating at 9:45 pm)

*The Iscreamist can only accommodate 15 diners at a time--seating is on first-come, first-served basis.