My Dogs

Jack, Milo and Lily are my kids and i love them so much. Lily and Milo are basset hounds (hush puppies for those who don't know) and Jack is a sharpei. I got lily 4 years ago from a well-respected breeder. It was a few months after my 2 Basset Hounds, Harry and Sally, died from the dog food poisoning caused by factory mishap of pedigree. Lily was such a sweet dog from the first day i saw her at the breeder's shop. She was only 4 months old that time. When my family arrived at the breeder's place, she was one of those puppies who came up to me and turned over to have their tummies petted. However, it was her unique spot on her head that made me get her. Harry had a unique spot on his head too so i thought it was because of that that i felt a connection with lily. A year later, I wanted lily to give birth however I didn't have a male dog so i looked for a stud. That's when I met Milo.He was 1 1/2 years when i got him. The picture the person sent me showed that milo was good looking and well. However when i finally saw him, he was so frail and had a cherry eye. I asked the breeder why he's so frail and thin and what his eye was. The owner said that he couldn't afford to feed him and that he has no time to take care of him. Then I went to the owner's house. I was surprised at the state of environment milo had to stay in. He was staying in a very small cage, no water and no space to move at all. Also, I didn't like the way the owner treated Milo. Seeing him shove and "throw" Milo to the cage was enough so I decided to wager. I told him I will get him for a small fee. After convincing him, he agreed to sell him to me for just 5,000 pesos. ORiginally it was 10,000 pesos but i wanted to make sure he was healthy enough to be with lily so i deducted the rest from the amount. ACcording to the vet, he suffered from kidney infection, cherry eye which would be surgically fixed, ear infection and slight anemia because of ticks and fleas. He had everything fixed except for his eye. His first few days at the house, he was so quiet and so nervous. I had to make sure that I'm going to be there for him and care for him. Few days later, he got used to the surrounding and all then have finally introduced him to my dog, lily. They both got on well. It was great seeing Lily have someone to play with. When I looked at milo's certificate, i saw that he was related to my other basset hound, Harry. I felt a bit sentimental coz Harry was one of the best dogs i have ever had. Jack on the other hand, was the dog my dad fell in love with when we went to tiendesitas. He was a beautiful chocolate brown wrinkled puppy. He has the same loud snore like my dad.


The two basset hounds get along fine but Jack, he thinks he's the top dog and always taunt and pick on a fight with the two basset hounds. Because of the fights they have had with each other, we had to separate the basset hounds from jack. Their fights were so scary that they would have open wounds and lots of blood. The vet said not to worry because with their breed, they heal really quick especially for the sharpei. However, the bassets takes a while to heal.

I love walking the dogs however, my problem with milo is that he pulls. Milo was the toughest to train. Milo doesn't have the ability to respond well to commands. Lily and Jack knows how to obey. Jack on the other hand has separation anxiety. He whines and wrecks the door whenever someone in the family comes on. Sometimes, when i step outside to smoke, he would whine and wreck the door. One time, i let him out with me. He just sat there right beside me and would go around from time to time. He's kinda like my bodyguard lol. However, when milo and lily comes to greet me, jack protects me from them by distracting them with his barking and biting. Until to this day, I have no idea how to solve that. So for now, separation is the answer. Lily on the other hand, is such a sweet dog. Whenever one of us rides the car, she would try to hop in to come with us. But she's also very intelligent. She knows not when to stay in the way of cars and when to go out of the gate by herself. For two consecutive dog walks, I would put milo on a leash while lily is offleash and lily is sooo good off the leash. She would just follow us whereever we would go. I just call her attention when i need to then she would come running to me. Of course with numerous praises for her good behaviour. When there are dogs, she would bark but just calling her name, also milo, and then say no would stop them from doing that. It amazed me seeing them so behaved and responsive. I am just so lucky i have dogs like them. Despite them jumping like crazy and their nails scratching our legs lol.

My partner has a dog which she shares custody with her ex. I call them my step-dogs lol. Charlie is a westie and Maggie is a designer dog (collie and jack russell). Both are lovely dogs and very obedient. I like the fact that if imogen catches them doing something bad, they know that it is bad and they feel guilty about it by hiding under the chair. Wonder how she did it lol.

Anyway, that's all for now. I must walk the dogs and see if lily will still be on her good behaviour. I hope it'll be consistent. Having two strong male dogs who constantly pulls is breaking my arm.

Hairspray

Yesterday, I watched Hairspray with my mum. It was an amazing adaptation of the broadway musical, hairspray. This starstudded film has left me wanting to watch the film over and over again. I was amazed at John Travalta's portrayal as Edna, Tracy's Mum. The music was awesome too. Michelle Pfeiffer sang 2 songs and i must admit that I can actually sing better than her monotonous singing lol. All of them sing really well. I was so surprised to see a different acting side of James Marsden (remember cyclops of x-men? that's him). I've always seen him as one of those hunky drama actor. Seeing him in this musical, singing and dancing, shows that he is really more than just a hunk. Amanda Bynes who plays Tracy's bestfriend does not sing as good as others but is very natural in acting. Christopher Walken another major actor in this show was just really good. I loved his singing. Zac Efron well, is better in Hairspray than his disney movie, high school musical. Queen Latifah could've done better acting but when she sang the song during her march for racial integration, "I know where I've been", left me crying. I felt tingles when she was singing that song. The person who portrayed Tracy, Nikki Blonsky, was really good and very natural. She has a very good singing voice. I wonder if she's the original Tracy in the broadway tho.

The main theme of the song is acceptance. First, Tracy is this plus sized girl who wants to dance at the Corny Collins show. Because Dancing was her dream, she fought hard for it even tho she knows she won't fit in because of her weight. However, because she's very good in dancing, people's reaction diverted from weight to her talent. Another is the racial segregation. This musical was based on the 1960s where racism was rampant. There would be a negro day which is a corny collins show for the black people. But Queen Latifah fought for racial integration, not segregation. Because Tracy has a big heart and saw the unfairness behind it, she helped with the campaign, in fact it was tracy who suggested to march when she found out that negro day will be taken out. Apart from all the troubles and all, at the end, every one came to accept each and every one's differences.

Krispy Kreme, Manila Review

When I was younger, my mother would always go out of the country for business trips and she would never forget to bring krispy kreme home. I was so happy that krispy kreme has finally opened in manila. I have tried each and every krispy kreme donut. There are some i like and some I find too sweet.

Original Glazed Krispy Kreme: I thought that it's sweeter than the original donut i've tried out of the country. It's still good and the quality of the donut itself is good.

Chocolate Iced Kreme Filled: I love this one but i wish that krispy kreme would be more consistent on the amount of kreme inside the donut. The first one i bought was just perfect. The 2nd time i bought the donut, the kreme was only on one side of the donut and not as much as the first one i had.

Glazed Sour Cream Cake: Oh this is one of my favorites. Not too sweet, just right.

Chocolate Iced with sprinkles, this one taste like the original krispy kreme donut and it's too sweet.

Glazed Cruller: It's sweet and chewy and very light.

Glazed Raspberry Filled: I love this one. It's not too sweet and again, the amount of the raspberry filled should be consistent and really filled up. Sometimes, i'd eat halfway already and the filling starts to disapear so all i have left is just the donut.

New York Cheesecake: I didn't enjoy this one very much as it was really sweet.

Chocolate Iced Custard Filling: I like this in fact, they should have a variety of this without the chocolate. The custard is perfect enough.

Powdered Strawberry Filled: One of my favorites. This is a must try. The Strawberry filling is not too sweet and it's not as sour as i thought.

Chocolate Iced Glazed: The orignal glaze is already very sweet and with the added chocolate icing, it becomes even more sweet. so, not for me.

Glazed Lemon Filled: I'm not a fan of of sour food but this one, is really good. Not too sour at all. It's slightly sweet and the blend of sourness of the lemon filling and the sweetness of doughnut balances it.

Caramel Kreme Crunch: I love caramel and this one is just perfect for me. Another favorite of mine. This is a must try.

Maple Iced Glazed: I think the sweetness of this is just right. Not as sweet as the original glaze.

Glazed Chocolate Cake: It's actually similar to the glazed sour creme cake but this one is slightly sweeter and duh, chocolate-y

Traditional Cake: It looks very dry but it's very good. It actually melts in your mouth. This is perfect with afternoon tea.

I know i've used the word too sweet however, I think it was made to be sweet because these donuts are supposed to be eaten with coffee. It makes sense as they are also marketing their own brand of coffee.

The pricing for me is reasonable. Dunkin Donuts, gonuts donuts, and other donut shops are cheaper than krispy kreme and usually, i see few customers. However, Krispy Kreme on the other hand is more expensive than the others but the shops are always full. It's amazing to see that people are actually after the quality of the donut and not the price. Also, most filipinos know about krispy kreme abroad so it's not new for them. But because of its availability and "newness" in manila, more people are flocking in and trying to grab that free original glazed donut while they line up for a box of donuts. Let's see after a couple of months if they are still the biggest selling donuts in manila. Will it continue to satisfy customers or will customers gets sick and tired of it?

Pasta Recipe #1

I love cooking especially when it comes to seafood and pasta. I don't cook meat at all. For today's brunch, I made an olive oil base pasta with ingredients found in my refrigerator.

Ingredients:
Cooked or left over spaghetti noodles. You can use fetuccine if you like
Olive Oil (the amount depends on the amount of noodles you will add)
2 pcs of anchovies or if you don't have anchovies, you can use sardines in olive oil or spanish style.
2 overriped tomatoes (do not do anything yet to these toms)
1 half of the large bell pepper or 1 small bell pepper, chopped
half of white onions
fresh chopped chives and basil
4 cloves garlic
Asparagus, chopped
4 pcs of sundried tomatoes on olive oil, chopped
1/4th black olives chopped
1/8th cup of capers
ground pepper to taste
Parmeggiano

In a pan over low heat, add olive oil. The amount of olive oil depends on the amount of noodles. However, to keep olive oil as good as possible, do not let it smoke as the higher the heat, the good fats will become transfats. So for this, just add about 1/4th olive oil. Add anchovies or sardine, mash it while cooking then half the tomatoes and squeeze the juice in the pan. While the anchovies or sardine is cooking, chop the remaining tomatoes, set aside. Add garlic, onions, pepper and the tomatoes (not the sundried). Wait for about 30seconds then add asparagus, sundried tomatoes, olives and capers. Add ground pepper and mix. Add noodles. If pasta is too dry, add olive oil. Serve it with shredded or ground parmeggiano.

For this recipe, i was able to cook for 4-5 people however, because it's so good, 3 people or less can gobble it all up in one seating.