Family: Reunion with Paypon-Jose-Rosanes Family

26 July 2015

I hold family gatherings as exciting milestones in our lives.  Most of my family live abroad so whenever some of them come back to Manila, I make sure that we attend the reunions.  This time, it's my cousin Martha and her family that came back from Wisconsin.  Her Mom and Dad came ahead of them so we're one big happy family!

Travel: Trip to Fort Santiago, Manila

Today, Dylan, Tracy and I went to Fort Santiago in Intramuros, Manila to be with Patrick and their production team as they shoot scenes with Apl de Ap for Full Throttle.

Mind you, it has been a very long time since I was last here and I remember it was part of an educational field trip in my school. It was Dylan's and Tracy's first time to visit so it's like seeing it all for the first time again :)

Cars: Launch of Full Throttle at House Manila

In a previous post, I uploaded a press release for the launch of the new TV show, Full Throttle, on the History Channel.   Last July 16, Thursday, that event became a milestone in our family life, especially for Patrick who had to leave Top Gear Philippines as a full-time writer to concentrate on this endeavor.  As mentioned, the launch was held at House Manila in Resorts World and it was a resounding success having many car manufacturers, advertisers and press people in attendance.


DIY: Bake your own Banana Bread

14 July 2015

We usually have bananas in the house but the problem is that if you don't eat them quickly, they can turn rotten so easily.  So rather than let them go to waste, I thought I'd try my hand at making banana bread out of them.  :)  Naturally, I scoured Google for an easy-to-follow recipe and I found one here.

This recipe was very simple.  I don't have a blender or a masher so everything I've done is by hand.  If you have the equipment then feel free to use them :)

Ingredients:

4-5 medium-sized bananas (you can add more if you want)
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs

Procedure:

Step 1:  Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl then set aside



Step 2:  Mix the butter, sugar and eggs in another bowl.  Set aside.


Step 3:  Peel the bananas then mash them.


Step 4:  Mix the mashed bananas with the butter/sugar/eggs mixture.  After that, put that mixture with the flour/baking soda/salt and just blend them together. Put it in a loaf pan (in my case a baking pan since I don't have a loaf pan).  Oh and don't forget to spread some butter on the surface of the pan to prevent the bread from sticking.  


Step 5:  Put the pan in the oven (preheated at 350 degrees F).  In the video I looked at, the baking time was 60-65 minutes.  With the pan that I used, it only took 30-35 minutes.  You can check if the bread is done if you stick a toothpick in the middle and when you pull it out, nothing sticks to it.  That tells you that it's done.




We let it cool out of the oven when it was done.  Here are my assistants enjoying our success :)











Family: Luke's Christening

12 July 2015

After 3 days of "No Classes" because of three consecutive typhoons in the Philippines, we were all happy to get out of the house and attend Stevie and Toni's baby boy Luke's Baptism.  We all trooped to the Christ the King Church in Libis.  The venue for the reception was also within the church's grounds (very handy!).

Cars: Full Throttle on the Road to History (press release)


Full Throttle on the road to History

Full Throttle is the pioneering local TV show to air on History Channel Philippines, bringing with it a fresh and vibrant take on the motoring industry both here and abroad.

“Local motoring TV programs are too formulaic and staid, with some retaining the same format they’ve had for decades,” said Rommel Dizon, the show’s program manager and one of the founders of the production company behind the show, Beyond Wheels Production. “Full Throttle promises to change all that.”

DIY: How to clean your computer fan

09 July 2015

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that our CPU was making a weird humming noise and noticed that the fan attached to the CPU case stopped working.  Now, ever since our motherboard expired last year due to dust and dirt, I've been conscious about cleaning the CPU regularly.  But I haven't had a chance to clean the actual fan unit.  So, I searched Google (of course!) for an easy to follow DIY video on cleaning CPU fans and I found one here and I proceeded to try it out for myself.