All posts by Heart2Heart

December 17, 2007
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From the Kitchen of Lucille

By | Celebrations, Foodie, Homes and Interiors | 4 Comments

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We made the birthday celebrant cook for us!  🙂 Everything made from scratch and a labor of 2326435195.jpg

Pumpkin and Coconut Soup and Warm Ceasar Salad

Baked Phyllo Purses with Cheesy Spinach and Sausage

Baked Rack of Lamb with Fruit and Nut Rice Pilaf and Whole Fish Baked in Salt

Desserts:  Baked Cheesecake with Dulce de Leche Sauce and Frozen Coffee Cream

Thank you to Lucille for preparing a wonderful lunch in celebration of your birthday. 

We  2326435195.jpg your cooking and the company. Happy Birthday Lucille!!

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Taking you behind the scenes of that sumptuos lunch……Lucille is a serious chef which is why she has two kitchens.  Her regular kitchen…..

……….and her “serious” kitchen where she does all her “serious” cooking and baking. 

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 For now she does it as a hobby but maybe later on she would like to conduct cooking classes for some friends. What a beautiful kitchen!

With Lucille’s permission, Heart2Heart is also featuring her beautiful home.  It is a five year old home designed by Maja Olivares-Co.  The house is classic and timeless.  Everything was in order and very clean. It is a three storey house with an attic.   Lucille showed me her collection of paintings- Isabel Diaz being one of her favorites –  and many of the beautiful things she bought from Rustan’s while we were still officemates around 15 years ago – framed Cartier scarves, Tiffany dinnerware, Tiffany ginger urn and an MMA ( Metropolitan Museum of Arts) vase.  I particularly like the fact that she has an altar with a beautiful Mother in Child made out of ivory tusk in the middle of the rooms.   The Christmas decors were elegantly done by Rustan’s flower shop.  No wonder Lucille worked in Rustan’s…she loves Rustan’s just like me 🙂

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December 15, 2007
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John and Yoko

By | Foodie | 3 Comments

We tried John and Yoko at Greenbelt 5. 

Another one of Marvin Agustin’s restaurants after his successful venture Sumo Sam.  The place was full.  Beautiful interiors.  The staff are named after different cities in the world.  Assigned to our table were Hollywood and Paris.

with good friends………

……and we all enjoyed the food! 

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The menu was really well done. ( Sorry for the unclear photos- had a hard time shooting the menu )  Every dish had a photo and made us want to order everything.   Thanks to Carlo for recommending the GREEN CHICKEN!  YUMMY!!  Ton, you are right about the New York fried Maki, it is one of the best among what we ordered.  The Wagyu steak rice was also very good.  They had this foie gras rice which Mart orderd that I have to try next time.  Eyeing the cheese dishes of course – Kisu Parmigiana and Shrimp karaage with blue cheese dip.  Will definitely be back with the rest of the family to try the other dishes.

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December 14, 2007
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THE COLOR OF THE PERFECT GIFT: Purple Card

By | Shopping, What's New at Rustan's | 2 Comments

STORES SPECIALISTS, INC. PRESENTS THE PURPLE CARD

The color of choice this Christmas is purple.  It’s time to show one’s true color and take up the tone befitting an opulent lifestyle with Stores Specialists, Inc.’s Purple Card!  To serve their customers’ gift-giving needs, the country’s premier specialty retailer Stores Specialists, Inc. (SSI) has come out with the most convenient and practical idea in gift giving – the Purple Card, a special electronic gift card that comes with its own beautifully designed packaging.  With pre-loaded denominations as low as P1,000, it’s the most practical gift for your loved ones. 

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There are more than 200 participating SSI stores found in major shopping centers in Manila and Cebu, all of which will honor the Purple Card starting this month.  

The SSI Purple Card is elegantly designed and packaged in its own mini purple case and gift bag.  The card itself comes in two tasteful designs, each unique in its own way and ideal for whomever the lucky recipient will be.  And why the color purple? 

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Purple has long stood as a symbol of royalty and noblity in many cultures – it suggests prestige, distinction, and exclusivity.  The Purple Card further reinforces SSI’s steadfast commitment to pamper its customers with nothing but the finest, most prestigious lifestyle brands the world has to offer.  Every celebration special enough for gift-giving deserves a purple treatment.  Lavish your loved ones with the power to make their own choices!  They deserve nothing less than the Purple Card, the electronic gift card from Stores Specialists, Inc. 

For further inquiries, please call 8982042, 8183937, 6348019, or 7576292 or approach any of the SSI store managers.

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December 12, 2007
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Belenismo sa Tarlac

By | Christmas, Great Ideas, Travel | 13 Comments

It is amazing what people do to prepare for Christmas.  In the Philippines, no matter what economic situation, everyone makes sure they decorate and prepare for Jesus’ birthday. 

This year, Tita Isabel Cojuangco Suntay and her daughter, Isa, did something really extraordinary.  They started a new tradition in their hometown, Tarlac.  The whole city joined in the endeavor and it is the FIRST ever in the country.  Last July, Father Alex Bautista, Head of the Commission of the Cultural Heritage of the Church of the Diocese of Tarlac, brought up the idea to Tita Isabel.  This is what started the conception of Belenismo.  Of course aside from coming up with a great idea, the key and the hardest part is always the implementation and bringing the idea to life and it was the hard work and dedication of Tita Isabel and Isa to organize the whole city to join.  Many residences, buildings, restaurants, hotels joined including the 17 Municipalities of Tarlac. The categories are:  Monumental, Grand, Personal and Dioramas. Thank you also to San Miguel Corporation for sponsoring the event and making all of this possible.

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Heart2Heart had the chance to join a small group whom Tita Isabel and Isa hosted to view this spectacular sight.    The first stop was the San Sebastian Cathedral which housed the dioramas and a few of the personal categories.  ( Click on the small photos for a larger view of the image )

This was one of Heart2Heart’s favorites because it was unique in the sense that it used an aquarium as the belen. 

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Isa had her own entry to the contest and with the help of her designer Ding Mercado they were able to come up with this beautiful belen:

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Take note, the gift in the Belen is from Rustan’s!!! 🙂

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We were able to tour a few municipalities out of the 17 and visited a few others on the way.  As usual, we were impressed at the  creativity and talent the Filipinos have in designing their belens.  They made use of indigenous materials. 

 

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Asiaten Hotel

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A Chinese restaurant had their own version of a Belen with Chinese characters:

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Municipal of Capas:

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Our last stop and one of the finalists in the GRAND category:

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The Department of Tourism will include Belenismo in the Official list of Festivals of the Philippines if they do this for three consecutive years.  Tita Isabel said they definitely will and she will try to arrange a week wherein people from different cities can come over and see the belens and maybe even purchase some belens.  So Heart2Heart is looking forward to next year’s Belenismo.

Thank you very much Tita Isabel and Isa for bringing the christmas spirit to Tarlac….. and to the whole world.  You have contributed something which all of us will remember and for giving Jesus a reason to always want to celebrate his birthday in our country.  GOD BLESS YOU!!

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