Miyazaki Movie & Dinner Double Date 

My sister decided to host a Miyazaki movie night at her place and we picked one of our childhood favorite film, Kiki Delivery Service. On the dinner table, we have a fusion of American, Italian and Asian! Thanks to everyone who cooked! Vivian made manicotti, stuff mushrooms, garlic bread and honey garlic chicken wings. Orlie made the salad and mozzarella with tomato and basil. Andy made delicious soft boil soy sauce eggs.  

I wanted to make something that I've never made before and was craving shrimp so I made Thai fried rice with shrimp and pineapple. It was really simple to make and tasted great. Please see the recipe below: 

Thai Fried Rice with Shrimp and Pineapple: 

 

Ingredients:

2 Cups-Rice (made overnight)

2-Eggs (Beaten and Scrambled)

3-Garlic Cloves (Minced)

1 Can-Pineapple Chunks

1 lb-Shrimp (Peeled and Deveined)

1 Cup-Frozen Peas (Thawed and Boiled)

2-Green Onions (Chopped)

1/2 cup-Cashews (Chopped)

Sauce: 

(This is the tricky part, I don't have measurements of how much sauce I used because I always "sauce to taste", meaning I put a little of the sauce then taste it to see if it's good or needs more, so here's an estimate of how much I used.)

Soy Sauce (~2/3 tablespoon)

Fish Sauce (~2 tablespoon)

Sriracha (1 tablespoon)

Lemon Juice (~1 tablespoon)

1) In a bowl, whisk two eggs. Heat a large skillet with high heat and add a little bit of oil or cooking spray. Add egg to the skillet and quickly use a spatula to mix the eggs. Cook the eggs for  ~2 mins then remove from skillet and keep warm.

2) Use a skillet to saute onion with a little bit of oil until it is tender and fragrant. Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the shrimp and cook it until it turns pink. Stir in the rice, pineapple, peas, cashews, scrambled eggs and green onions. Mix well...

3) Pour soy sauce all over the fried rice mixture and mix well (this will give it the nice brown color). Add fish sauce, Sriracha and lemon juice- sauce to taste! 

4) Garnish with more cashews and green onions on top when served. Optional-cut up a lime and put on the side for people to add more citrus favor to their fried rice. 

Barcelona: La Boqueria

A stroll down La Rambla, you will find the entrance to The Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria or La Boqueria, a large food market in Barcelona, Spain. The market has a very diverse selection of goods...

tons of fruits and juice to buy! different kinds of fruits were mixed w/ coconut juice for a very creamy taste:

fresh fruits of all kind cut up and put in containers...

chocolates...

different kinds of eggs...

creamy gelato...

meat...

more fruit!

caramel and candies...

dry fruits and nuts...

Korean restaurant (the only Asian store there)

candied fruits..,

fried fish balls (we tried them and I didn't it, Andy said it was okay...)

fried seafood combination (it was okay...)

Restaurants towards the back of the markets were crowded but we finally found seats at Bar Boqueria.

it was kinda pricey...

We had the seafood combination for two. The huge dish of seafood includes calamari, shrimp, mussels, fish, and razor clams. The seafood was fresh and cooked right, nothing was under or over cooked. It was made with lots of herbs and some lemon juice. sooo much seafood, soooo delicious, sooo worth it!

picture with our food before we devour it!!

Our last day in Barcelona, we decided to dropped by the market for our last fruit smoothie runs. We wanted to try more flavors so we got 5 or 6 drinks at a time (bad idea...). We spent too much time in the market and shopping that we missed our plane to Rome! I blame it partially on the the trains but anyway...

FYI: if you want to use the bathroom in the market you have to save your receipts to show the bathroom lady. If you don't you have to pay .50euros

Ibiza: Beach, Party and Seafood!

Ibiza, a beautiful island in Spain. It's known for having spectacular beaches and is a popular destination for party goers. For us it was a relaxing and fun stay! We stayed in Eivissa and came across a restaurant with a beautiful view and delicious seafood.

a very romantic place to dine especially at night having a candlelit dinner ...

The food at Marco was very good especially the mussels. So far it's the best mussels we've tried in Europe. The food portion is good, price is decent and the staff was really nice. We ate here twice and really enjoyed each time. I didn't bring my camera the first time (damn it!) but we had paellas which was very yummi!

Grilled squid and veggies, the squid was fresh and softveal (according to Andy, the meat was okay...)

I don't have pictures but the desserts was good, we had a fruit ice cream sundae. They also give a complimentary peach liquor shot for dessert. What a great way to end a meal!

Ibiza Sunset <3>
Another place we loved visiting was seeing the sunset in Sant Antonio on the strip where all the restaurants and bars are. We went to the famous Cafe Del Mar. We actually didn't get a chance to eat at these restaurants but I think this would be a great place to dine and hang out.

Some people byob on the beach to watch the sunset. Great place to chill w/ good electronic music from the restaurants and fun atmosphere.

Ibiza 2010 <3>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bar Heladeria Marco
Avda Ricardo Curtoys Gotarredona, 1
07840 Santa Eularia Des Riu (Eivissa), Spain
971 331 103

Cafe Del Mar
Carre Lepant, 4 Sant Antoni Portmany (Elivissa)
971 342 516

Taste of Belgium #7: My Favorites!

#1: Belgian Waffles and Frituurs

#2: Sausage Roll from Panos!
Panos is a chain store that sells sweet and savory bake goods. You can find this store everywhere in Belgium (it's like a Starbucks, you can find one on every corner). It's a quick snack which is cheap and taste so good!

They make different types of rolls like turkey, chicken and sausage.

#3: Belgian donuts:
I must mention these delicious Belgian pastry and donuts. They were SOOOOOOO good! We had these for breakfast. The chocolate one is like our boston cream donut but the only difference is that it's flaky outside. SO DELICIOUS!!!! The other pastries were cinnamon, custard filled and raisin.

#4: Blood Sausage by Sita's MomStesi planned something special for us to try but won't tell us what Sita's mom was going to make for us. They said Belgian people love it but some people hate it. Sita said she didn't like it as a child but was going to try it again when we do. It turns out to be blood sausage! I've tried it before but hated it. The ones i tried was very hard and the taste was really bad but this time it was soo good! You can eat it with apple sauce and some people eat it with brown sugar. I actually really like it w/ apple sauce.

Thank you so much for cooking this for us Sita's mom *hugz* Dank je wel!!!

Taste of Belgium #6: Chocolates

Chocolate, chocolate everywhere!!! There are so many stores in Belgium where you can buy gourmet chocolate by the pounds or piece. A famous brands in Belgium is Leonidas. According to Stesi, they have the best chocolate! In the states, we think Godiva is one of the best but in Belgium it's only an okay brand.

We went to a chocolate store by Ferran Adria, who owns the title of making the best chocolate in the world.

I <3 chocolate!!!

Taste of Beligum #5: Jenever and Beer

Jenever (aka Holland/Dutch gin) is a traditional liquor of the Netherlands and Belgium. It is popular for its different favors ranging from many types of fruits or cream favors. My sister tried it and kept raving about it so of course we had to try....

We head over to "De Vagant", a Jenever bar:

There were so many favors to choose from but I ordered the lychee and Andy got the pear favor. Before you take a shot of Jenever, first you're suppose to take a sip of it while the shot is on the table then you chuck the whole thing.

I thought mine was a little to strong. Andy's pear was REALLY good! Cheers to our first Jenever! At this time, I couldn't handle another shot so we all only had one. Andy and I were both dead tired because we just got off the plane and I haven't slept yet. If I drank anymore I would probably be sleeping/passed out on the table.
One of my highlights, we stumbled upon the Cathedral Bar in Antwerp. It was a very cozy bar with lots of interesting decor of many Catholic saints and church related stuff. It's like we walked into a mini basilica but they serve alcohol!

Steven had a strong beer:

the rest of us had fruity (cheery and raspberry) beer! It's light and taste really good!

drinking beer in the afternoon the Belgium way...

We also found another hold in the wall beer/wine tasting place while trying to find Jeanneken Pis, peeing girl in Brussels. We got tired of looking for her so stopped by at Délices et Caprices for a drink:
It was a really small store with a few tables. There were cabinets and shelves of beer everywhere.

The owner was really nice and chatted with us. He gave us really good recommendations. Steven had the strong beer and we again had the fruity stuff. Sita picked the apple and we had the raspberry beer.

I really like this one...

he let us try a light beer:

Cheers to a great time in Belgium!!

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De Vagant
Reyndersstraat 25
2000 Antwerp, Belgium
03 233 15 38

Cathedral Bar (?)
can't find information online

Délices et Caprices
Rue des Bouchers 68
Brussels, Belgium B1000
02 5121451