eman01 Originally uploaded by annalyn. I have this guilty pleasure, and it's watching ABS-CBN's Pinoy Dream Academy whenever I have the time. Got on PDA mostly because one of the scholars, Eman, is my officemate's beloved adopted brother. Eman is a talented singer/composer and he's the pride of all Ilonggos in this reality talent show. We'd really love to see him in the finals and the last thing we'd like to see is for him to be voted/booted out, something which we will find out tomorrow, 9:30 pm, when PDA's next edition unfolds. Do me a favor and help ... Continue Reading...

Kaya My favorite breakfast these days is kaya (coconut jam) on toast and I simply have to order kaya toast whenever I drop by Kopi Roti at the Mall of Asia. For the uninitiated, kaya (coconut jam) is the matamis na bao of Singapore and Malaysia. The only difference is that it's less sweet and creamier. It is often made of coconut cream, egg (others use duck eggs), sugar, pandan leaf and salt. Considering that these same ingredients are commonly found in the Philippines, I wonder why we didn't think of this earlier. ... Continue Reading...

KL food shots. I must have gained a couple of pounds from my recent brief sojourn to KL but I have no regrets. What I did regret was not being able to stop by Penang or Malacca or nearby Singapore which are veritable food haven in themselves. (The New York Times had a recent article on Malaysian food here.) Because we were travellers on a budget, we didn't get to taste all the five-star, tourist-y stuff but but we did savor the sights and flavors of KL"s street food as well as those in the restos and in the malls. A few highlights from our trip: ... Continue Reading...

aston-martin-dbs, originally uploaded by annalyn. Despite the mixed reviews it got, I still enjoyed 'Casino Royale' when I watched it during my last day-off for a variety of reasons: 1) I view movies once in a blue moon and my appreciation is always heightened by this fact (unless they make me an MTRCB member in this lifetime); 2) SomeBody was paying for this; 3) I can't remember the last time I watched a Bond film and so can't make a firm comparison about which is better, except that I would label this one 'good,'; and 4) what business do I have working in ... Continue Reading...

Krispy Kreme arrives in Manila. I interrupt my Malaysian adventure to tell you about this nice little package I got yesterday, from where else but...Krispy Kreme! I was expecting "truckloads of doughnuts" as Yuga said but the green-dotted little box of a dozen doughnuts will do. And most especially because I didn't receive doughnuts for free in my whole life, hehe. I wrote about KK in July (followed by one of my favorite posts, 99 ways to munch on a doughtnut, lolz), thanks to a tip from Cabalen-cum-Manila Boy Spanx I've heard a lot about Krispy Kreme ... Continue Reading...