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He thought that he can spend the remaining SGD70 vouchers after two weeks. Unfortunately, his Singapore business trip was canceled because of the COVID19 so naexpired na yung SGD70 vouchers namin (valid for 1 year only). Sayang ang PHP2,600+ marami pa pwedeng mabili doon. Lesson learned, gastusin na agad ang vouchers at baka hindi na makabalik abroad.

We rarely eat Singapore Chili Crab because it is expensive if you will order it in the restaurant, so far we have tried Mesa Filipino Moderne and Claw Daddy. But because of this Prima Taste, you can eat your favorite Singapore dishes at the comfort of your home. They have different Ready-to-Cook Meal Sauce Kit that you can choose from. 

For the Singapore Chili Crab, the pack includes Chili Crab Paste, Chili Crab Sauce Mix, and Extra Hot Chili Mix. There is also a recipe guide and you can also watch their video on how to use this sauce kit. My husband bought this in Singapore but it is also available at Landers PHP248.75 and online. 

Ingredients: Serves 2 - 3 

146 ml Peanut oil 

1-1.2 kg Live Sri Lankan crab (or any crab)

10 ml Peanut oil (reserved from frying crab) 

1 pkt Chilli Crab Paste ** 

125 ml Crab juice (reserved from soaking crab) 

470 ml Water (for Step 2) 

1 pkt Extra Hot Chilli Mix **, as desired 

1 pkt Chilli Crab Premix ** 

30 ml Water (for Step 4) 

2 nos Egg, lightly beaten 

Coriander leaves 

** Included in Prima Taste pack 

1. In a wok, warm peanut oil for 30 secs on medium heat. Add crab (without shell) and cover the wok. Fry for 1 min, turn the crab over and fry for another 30 secs. Remove crab and strain peanut oil for later use. 

2. Mix 5 ml fried peanut oil (from Step 1) with Chilli Crab Paste in a wok. Stir for 5 secs on medium heat. Add fried crab from Step 1, stir well, coating the entire crab with the paste. Cover the wok. Fry for 30 secs on medium heat. Pour crab juice (from Step A4, found inside the pack) around the crab. Mix well for 30 secs. Gradually add 470 ml water. 

3. Place shell (from Step A2, found inside the pack) over crab, with outer shell facing up. Cover wok for 90 secs. Stir and scoop gravy over crab. Cover wok for another 90 secs, then scoops gravy over crab again. Add the desired amount of Extra Hot Chilli Mix. 

4. Stir Chilli Crab Premix into 30 ml water in a bowl. Mix well, Add to crab, stir gravy evenly for 30 secs. 

5. Pour beaten eggs around crab and stir for 3 secs. Add 5 ml peanut oil (from Step 1) onto the crab and stir. Coat crab with gravy. 

6. Place crab and gravy on a serving platter and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with steamed rice or crusty bread. 

VARIATION: You may use seafood such as lobsters, mussels, clams, and prawns. 

STORAGE Store in a cool, dry place. After opening, keep the pack refrigerated and use it within 3 days. Volume Conversion: 1 cup ˜8 oz / 230 ml 

I’m not fond of spicy food so when my husband cooked this, he did not include the extra hot chili mix. We are satisfied with our DIY Singaporean Chili Crab and we’re glad that we no longer need to order this at the restaurant since we can prepare this at home. This was also part of our holiday potluck, my husband used curacha also known as spanner crab or red frog crab. 

Anyway, despite the stress, let me count my blessings this week. Yesterday, we got this package from my husband’s generous friend. We rarely buy or order scallops because it is expensive. But if the price is reasonable or if I want to treat myself, napapaorder ako nito. I like the unlimited scallops of Yurakuen and the Spaghetti ai Tesori del Mare of Amici.  

Two years ago, I ordered Japan Jumbo Scallops at ninjas.pantry for my quarantined birthday celebration. Medyo bitin yung 9 pieces so I told my husband to buy scallops for our Christmas Eve but I was shocked kasi iba siya sa una ko nabili. Maliit siya and nahirapan ako maglinis and because of that, I don’t want to buy scallops na. Gusto ko yung katulad sa Yurakuen and yung nakain namin sa PAL Business Class na scallops. I want to buy ready to cook scallops. Hehehe!

But we got these scallops for free so I’m thankful for the blessings and wala ko karapatan magreklamo. If you remember my previous post “DIY Seafood Hotpot”, hindi ko pa nakakalimutan yung pagod ko sa paglinis ng scallops so my husband volunteered that he will clean and bake the scallops. Yey!  

After he baked the first batch, I suggested to remove all the shells na kasi anong oras pa kami magdidinner kung every 12 to 15 minutes ang baking time. So we had two versions of baked scallops, one with shells and one without shells. 

Read: DIY Samgyeopsal at Home 

Hotpot is also known as steamboat or soup-food, it is a type of cooking method that is originated in China. Sometimes we called it shabu-shabu, a Japanese term for hotpot. Our first hotpot experience was twelve years ago and since then, we already tried a few shabu-shabu restaurants both domestic and international.

Unfortunately, because of the pandemic restrictions, it is not easy to do some food trips so we do our own food trip at home na lang. Two years ago we prepared ingredients for hotpot and samgyeopsal for my mother-in-law’s birthday. We enjoyed our hotpot experience pero ewan ko ba bakit natagalan yung next hotpot namin. 

After one year, we had our first DIY Hotpot at home. For the hotpot, you need broth and raw ingredients that are easy to cook. You can prepare thinly sliced meat, dumplings, vegetables, vermicelli, seafood, and other foods that you like. 

For our soup base, I bought different flavors from Lee Kum Kee online, I purchased Pork Bone, Chicken, and Seafood. I also bought Bibigo Mandu PHP240 and Assorted Hotpot Balls 250g PHP165 at the Korean store. My husband bought our seafood at the wet market, for our family of three, nahirapan pa kami ubusin ito. We had clams, mussels, salmon, and tiger prawns. I added vermicelli and green vegetables kung anong meron sa fridge. 

We enjoyed our shabu-shabu at home so after a month, we had seafood hotpot again but this time, we only have a few ingredients (prawn head, scallops, vermicelli, and dried wakame. It just so happened that someone gave us seafood so we had crabs, prawns, and scallops. We already cooked the crabs and prawns but I don’t know what to do with the scallops so para madali, hotpot na lang. Good thing, I saved the prawn heads para malasa yung broth namin. I don’t have veggies at home so I used dried wakame na lang. 

Watch the video here.

P.S. Matagal pa yung paglilinis ko ng scallops kaysa sa pagkain namin. Waah!

We already tried several Korean BBQ restaurants like All 4 U Unlimited Korean Restaurant, Su Won Korean Garden Korean Restaurant, Siram Gyupsal Unlimited Korean BBQ House, Wow Samgyup Unlimited Korean Grill, Romantic Baboy, and just last month we tried Samgyupsalan Unlimited Korean BBQ. 

We visited my late sister’s family in Valenzuela and before we went home, magdrive through sana kami sa fastfood ng lunch but on our way to the restaurant, I saw the “Samgyupsalan” and I asked my nephew and niece if they’ve tried Korean BBQ and hindi pa daw. I asked them if they love to try it and they both said yes so yung take out namin, naging samgyeopsal. Hehehe! 

It was a weekday so the restaurant was not full. Samgyupsalan offers unlimited meat, rice, side dish, soup, iced tea, lettuce, and sauces. It is unlimited for one hour and forty-five minutes and PHP200 leftover fee per plate. You can choose from their 3 UNLIMITED SETS. 

Set A PHP319 - Unlimited pork and chicken 

Set B PHP399 - Unlimited pork, chicken, and beef with free one serving of steamed eff. 

Set C PHP449 - Unli all meat with enoki beef and steamed egg. 

Add ons: 

Unli Cheese PHP40 per head 

Soju PHP179 

Softdrinks PHP55 

Steamed Egg PHP50 

They also offer SET MENU from 1 to 5. 

Set 1 Pork - Good for 2-3 persons PHP599 450g of pork with 4 side dishes, 150g of lettuce, and 50g of ssamjang paste or garlic sauce. 

Set 2 Beef - Good for 2-3 persons PHP699 450g of beef with 4 side dishes, 150g of lettuce, and 50g of ssamjang paste or garlic sauce. 

Set 3 Pork and Chicken - Good for 3-4 persons PHP799 450g of pork and chicken (each) with 4 side dishes, 150g of lettuce, and 50g of ssamjang paste or garlic sauce. 

Set 4 Pork and Beef - Good for 3-4 persons PHP899 450g of pork and beef (each) with 4 side dishes, 150g of lettuce, and 50g of ssamjang paste or garlic sauce. 

Set 5 Pork and Beef - Good for 4-6 person PHP1599 900g of pork and beef (each) with 4 side dishes, 300g of lettuce, and 100g of ssamjang paste or garlic sauce. 

In addition, just like Romantic Baboy, you can also order frozen meat and side dishes per tub (450g) for take-out if you want to have your own Samgyeopsal at home. 

Read: DIY Samgyeopsal at Home 

We chose the Unlimited Set C. For the meat, you can choose plain, bulgogi, spicy, or curry flavor. But some flavors are not available so we only tried plain pork, plain beef, bulgogi beef, and spicy chicken. I can’t remember if the steamed egg and enoki beef are also unlimited but they served 2 steamed eggs and 2 plates of enoki beef. 

Staffs are approachable and efficient so walang matagal na waiting time kapag nagparefill kami ng drink, sauce or meat. Overall, my nephew and niece enjoyed their first samgyeopsal experience. Nakakapanibago lang kasi wala na yung sister ko na lagi namin kasama sa foodtrip din. 

Not only that, Creative Fabrica is spreading the love even further by hosting 28 Days of Love Giveaways! Every single day throughout the month of February, one lucky winner gets the chance to win awesome crafting goodies! The first prize out is the chance to win the Cricut Marker 3 + Everything Materials Bundle. Join the giveaway here.

* This post contains affiliate links.

It’s been seven consecutive years that we’ve going to Tagaytay every Christmas Day. It was one of our holiday traditions that we try to keep so I’m thankful that despite the global pandemic, we were able to go out during Christmas Day. Here are the restaurants that we have tried for the past several years.

Among the five restaurants, we frequent Verbena Restaurant because of the less crowd, yummy food, and good customer service. Good thing that we planned to eat at Napa at Crosswinds because we have no idea that Discovery Country Suites is already closed, I’m not sure kung under renovation lang pero sira na siya nung dumaan kami. 

Anyway let us go back to our topic, we first visited Crosswinds “Swiss Luxury Resort” way back in 2012 and since then we have also frequented this place for a staycation or food trip. In a span of one decade, they already built few cafes and restaurants like Coffee Project Crosswinds, Cafe Voi La Crosswinds, Ruined Project, Napa at Crosswinds, Windmill Lausanne, and Yama Crosswinds.

We only tried Cafe Voi La so last Christmas we decided to visit Napa at Crosswinds. Napa is inspired by the popular place in California which is Napa Valley. You will easily notice the cabin-themed and rustic interiors of the cafe. You can see wooden benches, tables and floors, and wine barrels. And of course, Crosswinds is known for the Swiss-inspired themes so this cafe has a relaxing ambiance. You can choose indoors or al fresco dining.

We left the house before 5:30AM and we arrived at the cafe after one hour of traveling. The parking is limited so we are thankful na nakapagpark pa near the cafe or else, malayong lakaran. Marami na rin tao and yung iba hindi na nakapaghintay so umalis na and because of that, lumapit na ang pila namin.

Opening time is 7AM but unfortunately, hindi on-time yung pag-open. The staff ushered the guest one group at a time. As I’ve said before, you can choose indoor or outdoor but we prefer indoor (with a good view) because it is cold and windy. We prefer the second floor but the staff said, hindi pa daw pwede so we settled for this spot na lang. So kahit mauna ka pala, hindi ka naman makapili ng gusto mong place. 

We were waiting at the table for several minutes already pero walang lumalapit na staff to get our order so kung hindi pa kami tumayo at nag-ikot sa cafe, hindi namin malalaman na self-service pala so we fell in line na and I noticed that the second floor is already occupied so mas okay pala mahuli? #bitter 

Since it was our first time, we were having a hard time choosing from their menu so we ended up ordering kung ano yung nasa picture. hehehe! We ordered Long Drive Breakfast PHP525, Pancetta and Eggs PHP535, Grilled 4 Cheese Sandwich PHP305, Capuccino PHP245, Premium Chocolate PHP280, Vietnamese Latte PHP270, and Basque Cheesecake PHP245. Take note Cash Payment Only.

I was surprised that after six minutes, our order is ready for pick-up, which was so fast. But we were disappointed because the food is cold. Kaya pala mabilis lang, I assumed precooked na mga foods and nagplating na lang. Yung fries na lang ang lamig, sino ba gusto kumain ng malamig na fries? 

Ang ganda pa naman nung nakapost sa restaurant nila. “Napa is a place where you can have breakfast at any time of the day with a view to match every soul’s troubles” Kaso kung malamig ang food hindi nakakacomfort ng soul. 

The cafe is located in the cold place of Tagaytay, we ordered breakfast meal and the price is not cheap so we were expecting warm foods. Buti na lang yung drinks, hot talaga. Mas masarap siguro yung Pancetta and Eggs kung mainit. We like cheesecake but we don’t like the taste of their Basque Cheesecake. Despite my disappointments, I’m still happy that I was able to visit this place, at least nag-iba ng ambiance. Charged to experience na lang.

Open daily from 7 AM to 9 PM 

Crosswinds, Tagaytay, 4120 Cavite 

Read: What to Eat at The Farm at San Benito 

This is a company lunch so I will not order any dishes but out of curiosity, I searched for their menu so this restaurant offers Filipino delicacies and grilled dishes. Upon arrival, I was surprised because the restaurant is huge pala, akala ko yung building lang, meron pala sila na al fresco “kubo style”. 

Our reserved tables are inside the building where you can also buy pasalubong. I browsed their menu and halos same lang ang presyo kapag kumain ka sa Metro Manila. They have a la carte, set menus (Set A to Set J) and party trays for your home celebrations. The set menu is good for 10 persons and the price range is PHP4,000+ to PHP6,600 + 

The food looks appetizing on their menu so I was surprised when they served the food. Kulang sa presentation and wala man lang vegetables ang kanilang Bulalo. We had Kare-Kare, Bulalo, and Crispy Pata. All tables have the same dishes and we are just a family of three so hindi namin kaya ubusin yung food. Anyway, we are satisfied naman with what we ate and this is all free. 

Antipolo del Norte, Lipa City