Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Random… sweet stuff

Pardon my seemingly dormant activity in this blog. I've been in actively micro-blogging through Instagram & twitter and as much as I would like to deny, I gotta admit that the convenience of it has afftected my will to create full-blown entries here.

Was cruising through my flickr photostream and and was amused to see just how random my pics had been.

Hence, this post.

 
My dad & aunt's birthday cake

My dad's birthday falls on 24th March and his younger sis, the day before.

The 24th of that month fell on a Saturday and I had every intention to bring my parents out to celebrate my dad's birthday. As it so happened, 2 of his siblings + spouse and the birthday 'girl' camped over at their house after their 'Umrah' meeting at a mosque nearby.

Another uncle came by with my cousin, after they happen to attend the same wedding on that day.

My aunt has some physical health issues, so she hardly move around much. Seeing her there was kind of a rare moment, and now both are together under the same roof; I seized the opportunity to buy a cake to celebrate it with their siblings.

Besides, that day will be the last time the siblings gather at one place before they set off for their 'Umrah' (small pilgrimage). So it was joy & laughter at one moment and it all ended on a poignant note later on.

 
'Goldilocks' 

My bro's workplace recently employed staff from The Philippines. My bro became closely acquainted with one of them.

Anyway, he decide to make a trip back to his hometown for his mum's birthday and promised my bro that he'll bring back this supposedly fantastic snack called 'Goldilocks'. When I was told about it, I was like, "Who the heck will name snacks after the girl who steal porridge from a family of bears?

Well, he eventually came back with numerous packs of this. There's even a Halal insignia from the Islamic governing body of the Philippines (the actual recipe has lard inside so this is important). The snack is actually called 'Polvoron'. My bro gave one to me and insisted I open one and try. Each nugget was individually packed and labeled with various flavours: Original, Peanut, Cashew, Coffee, Pinipig & Cookies Cream.

 

Wait… "PiniPIG??!"

Did a spontaneous google search and came up with:
"Pinipig is actually immature glutinous rice that is harvested and pounded into what look more like light green flakes. The flakes are moist and redolent with a fragrance that is simply unique. They are almost the quintessence of rice."

And guess what? Pinipig is my most favourite amongst all. That crunch as I bit into the Polvoron reminded me a lot of rice crispies and I LOVE rice crispies!

I posted these pics on my Instagram & FB. Friends came out to say how much they love these, when given as souvenirs by their Pinoy mates. So I guess you know what to get as souvenirs when holidaying there, eh? Or request your friends buy it for you.

 
Putu Piring

This is a confusing one (maybe for me, anyway).

'Putu' is more of an Indian name, for batter made of rice flour and water, or even coconut milk. But this Putu 'Piring' (Malay for 'plate') is popular amongst the Malays and even the Chinese, who call this 'Tutu Kueh'.

This one here was bought from the famous stall that used to be at Haig Road. For many years, they took up space at the corner, no matter what coffee shop proprietor it was. If I'm not wrong, they lasted through 3 different ones? Until the space no longer become a coffee shop do they finally move to the nearest space available, Mr Teh Tarik at Tri-Star Inn.

There's always a queue when buying this. And I can see why. A pack of 5 (or is it 6??) goes for only $1 and it's freshly made in front of you. The 'gula melaka' (sugar extracted from coconut tree) filling is just nice. not too much, not too little and therefore, not overtly sweet. Fresh, dessicated coconut and those 'pandan' (screwpine) leaves? Makes a whole lot of difference.

Imagine all those steam from the freshly-made putu piring, wafting around the coconut and very fragrant pandan leaves. Imagine you opening the packaging and releasing that scented vapours into your face... Little wonder how I can finish a whole pack myself!

 
LJS Chocolate pie

 
BK Hershey's sundae pie

Both chocolate ice-cream/mud pies. From fast-food outlets. One an actual pie from Hershey (BK), the other a pies using actual Hershey chocolate (LJS).

I keep hankering for a mud pie, I end up getting the one from BK because there are 2 branches close to home, while LJS is quite a distance away.

Truth to be told, I prefer the one from LJS, which is ALL chocolate and rich. While the one from BK kinda 'cheated' with dollops of whipped cream and it's a tad sweet for my tastebuds.

Ahh… to each his own.

Been wanting to check out those Halal mudpies from Ice Cube Cafe. Anyone tried this before?

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So… have a sweet-tooth craving, yet?? ;P

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