It is now 2016 and I cant quite wrap my head around the fact that 2015 is over. There were quite a few downs in the past year but they were totally eclipsed by highs the year had to offer. Here are my highlights: 1. Travel One of my greatest luxuries is to travel and 2015 sure did tick off a lot of places in my bucket list. I was lucky enough to visit 6 countries throughout the year and experience cultures that were alien but interesting at the same time. Because of JCI, I attended my first ever Asia Pacific Conference in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. The Philippines was a pretty big contingent that bagged a couple of awards like Best New Local Organization. Too bad however my bid didnt win -- but I am quite pleased that it was a finalist in my category. There is always next time. Added to this, Mart and I got to explore the gorgeous landscape by sea and steam train! Food too was awesome especially in the local driver pit-stops where it's cheap but damn good. Added to that we did a repeat of 2014's epic Northern Luzon road trip but this time in reverse. Our drive started from Manila then we took the west-side route and landed in Vigan for an overnight stay. The following morning we proceeded with the trip passing through Paoay, Laoag, Pagudpod before finally reaching our destination, Lal-lo, Cagayan, at 10pm. 2. Cook This year I really got to cook-- honing not just my Baking Skills. Highlights of the year would definitely be my Bun-Cha a souvenir of the family trip to Vietnam, The Monster Sandwich I prepared for H, Bacalao using a family recipe. The winners on the baking front are of course my Fudgy Brownies and making my first bread -- Cinnamon Rolls that H has touted the best he has ever tasted. Of course that could just be an extremely biased opinion. 3. Calligraphy Yes my hobby started in 2014 has definitely grown. The past year became a host of firsts regarding this topic. - Made my own DIY Traveller's Notebook from real leather and sold it - Organized and hosted the first calligraphy class in Albay - Dabbled in typography by attending classes by Abbey Sy, Alessa Lannot, etc. - Hoarded more craft supplies which includes more Holbein Watercolor, Peerless watercolor, Inks, nibs and of course my new baby -- the Silhouette Curio - Got my first BIG commission of 200+ escort cards for a wedding - wrote, edited and made a "logo" for my sister I am hoping that this year will yield even more growth for me in this craft. Of course I cannot end this blog post reminiscing about 2015 without giving a small portion in remembrance to my partner-in-crime and run buddy who is now in Doggie Heaven. Boston died on October 20, 2015 after being infected with erlichiya. It was painful for him but he really held on until we arrived from a trip to Manila so we could say good bye properly. I miss him terribly and would constantly hope that I'd still see him around the house but having JY -- his daughter and look alike-- around has soften the blow of losing him. Until we meet again buddy...
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Ten months after I first picked up a pointed nib and a bottle of ink, I didn't think I'd find myself actually teaching a class. This pet project of mine has been brewing on the back burner for quite some time. Of course every time you decide to share your talent to a lot of people -- say in a seminar-- there are a lot of questions that pop up like:
Ever since I began with my calligraphy obsession last September, I never thought that it would get this much attention. Posting my "work" on Facebook and instagram (@sab_adventures) made friends and strangers alike ask if I could teach them. This journey has been a work in a progress and there are times when I didn't think I was worthy enough to teach a class -- my alphabets aren't perfect, I still get shakey lines, I make mistakes, my flourishes aren't pretty, etc. But I decided it was time to bite the bullet and luckily enough my teacher Imma (@dyosaimma) wanted to teach the class with me. So preps began for the first ever BRUSH CALLIGRAPHY SEMINAR here in Albay. We began talking about location, materials, and advertising.
Imma arrived in Legazpi on the Friday (July 17) which meant 2 days of catching up and preparing the kits in time for the Jul 19 seminar. A big thanks to Balay Cena Una also for sponsoring our snacks that afternoon --- really delicious pasta and iced tea! Perfect combination for the humid weather. Everything was set for the workshop: paper, brush, watercolor, folder, etc. Setting up the place was a breeze and all we needed to do was wait for the participants. Remember we capped the class at 15? Well SEVENTEEN came and I still have a couple of people on the wait list. All of them were super excited to learn. Imma and I did our best to put them at ease -- reminding them that this is a process, one that wouldn't be perfected that same afternoon. Our class had the following structure:
I'd want to do this again. What do you guys think? Yay or nay?? haha
I didn't even realize that the month has gone by so fast. so, here's a RECAP June was such a bustle but July was even more of a hustle. I didn't realize that almost a month has gone by since I last updated my website. So I will try to keep this entry short, sweet yet image-filled. (AKA maraming picture)
So yes, this month has just been really busy and its going to get even busier. In a few days I will be facilitating, alongside Imma, my first ever BRUSH CALLIGRAPHY workshop. Ill write all about it after the class ends.
So this is it for now. Ciao! I must warn you the recipe I will write below will blow your minds and belt buckles I have always loved brownies -- they're like bite size pieces of chocolate heaven. They're relatively easy to make with only a few ingredients that will satisfy any uber-hungy chocobrownie deamon you have in your tummy (or in my case: home). You can make them different in many ways -- add nuts, caramel sauce, ganache, etc -- but the base remains the same: proportionate quantities of chocolate, butter, sugar, eggs and flour. I've recently found out that the secret to extremely gooey brownies is to under-bake them. Yes you heard me right, take them out earlier than expected from the oven. This leaves the outer layers crisp but the inside remains soft and moist. PERFECT COMBINATION, I say! So without further adieu here is my recipe for the month of June: SUPER GOOEY FUDGY MUSHY CENTER BROWNIES:
Dont ever underestimate the power of a good sandwich. I have always loved a good sandwich, making one is SIMPLE EASY and very DELICIOUS. Especially if you have the right ingredients to create a winner combination. This is why for May, given my very hectic schedule studying for a board exam and submitting bids the recipe I chose is the perfect sandwich...something I'd like to call the MONSTER SANDWICH. With Martin's current obsession with smoking meat and fish, our ref is full of his little backyard creations. One that I really highlighted for this recipe is his home-smoked bacon. Upon frying on a cast iron pan the smoky flavor and spice rub really makes this humble piece of meat shine! There is no perfect way to make a perfect sandwich. Sandwiches are highly personalized creations because it is based on your tastes and hungers. For this particular sand-wish I raded the ref for all the good stuff I'd think would go with the bacon. I came up with the ff:
Now to assemble the MONSTER SANDWICH is all about layering. This is how I did it:
Truth be told it was one hard sanwich to eat because it was so tall! But my target audience - aka my husband- loved it!! Since I had extra vegetables I decided to create a small side-salad. (Also because I wanted the dish to somewhat still be healthy despite the heart attack nature of the ingredients!) It tasted so good that I had orders for the MONSTER SANDWICH from my mom the next day. So yes the perfect sandwich-- based on my opinion. Why not try making your own perfect sandwich? Be creative, go crazy and most of all enjoy your gastronomic works of art! |
Who is sab_adventures?I have always wanted to write. This will now be a creative outlet-- home to all my arts and crafts. So feel free to browse around my everyday adventures. Interests
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November 2016
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