Lechon Baka

How do you make Lechon Baka?

Start with getting a leg of a young calf, inject it with spices and seasoning, then roast it above charcoal.

Unlike Lechon Baboy (roast pig), cow's meat is denser and it is difficult to evenly cook a baby cow's leg inside and out. The outer part is already well roasted but the inner part of the leg is still red and raw.

So you slice off the perfectly roasted outer layer,

to let the layer beneath it have its turn to roast to a nice brown color.

Make smaller bite sized pieces and it's done. The way of cooking Lechon Baka reminds me of Shawarma where the beef is cooked the same way.

So how do you want yours - rare, medium rare,

well done or medium well?

The left over bone intentionally have some meat attached and can be used to make beef soup.

NAIA Terminal 3

Finally had a chance to take a flight using NAIA Terminal 3 (Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3). Cebu Pacific started using NAIA Terminal 3 a week after we flew to Davao last July 26 so we missed the chance to see it early on its opening but lucky enough since most of the flights when NAIA Terminal 3 opened experienced the pains of awakening an airport that was asleep for a very long time (let me call it the "bagong gising syndrome"). But now after months of operations, it is becoming a well oiled and fully awake airport.

In the old Domestic Airport, overnight parking is available for 50 pesos per night. It is good to know that there is also overnight parking available in NAIA Terminal 3. The price is also 50 pesos per night. And when the mutli-level parking opens next year, I hope there will be overnight parking slots there so cars can be protected from the sun, rain and ipot (bird droppings).

Just follow the signs.

Get your parking slip. Log in the overnight parking log book.

In the old Deomestic Airport they give these overnight parking coupons. But in Terminal 3 you will only be given the parking slip above.

Park your car.

Cross the street between the parking area and the airport building.

Take the escalator to the second floor departure area.

Check-in your baggage and pay the 200 pesos terminal fee.

The airport looks modern.

Has walkalators to make walking quicker.

Plenty of seats to wait for boarding.

Grab some food in Delifrance, Chaikofi, Jamaican Pattie Shop, Go Nuts Donuts, Cinnabon, Hen Lin and Art's Cream Gallery.

There are still a lot of vacant space for more shops in the future.

Easy Parking in Mall of Asia

How do you easily find a vacant parking slot in Mall of Asia?

When we visited MOA last week, this question was answered with flying colors - red and green.

Each parking slot has a LED indicator that is green if it is empty and turns red as soon as a vehicle parks in it.

So how do you find an empty parking lot in Mall of Asia? Just look up, look for a green light in the pool of reds, then drive right in. Presto!
See how many empty parking slot you can find in the photo below.

San Francisco and a Bag of Nuts

Last month my wife and I went on a business trip to the US. But we never saw each other there. Why? Because I went there two weeks earlier than her. One week after I returned to the Philippines, it was her turn.

This is me in San Francisco, California.

This is my wife in exactly the same veiw deck overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge - two weeks after I was there.

From this point you can fit the Golden Gate Bridge on your hand.

But come closer and you'll see just how big it is. This is a sample of the main cable that is almost a meter in diameter and contains 27,572 wires. This is Lilia with her cousin Riza who lives in SF.

I love nuts and on a neighborhood walk in Silicon Valley I found this bag of nuts.

The popular Ding Dong mixed nuts that me and my Mapua dorm mates used as "pulutan" back in college contained peanuts, green peas and cornik. But the mixed bag I saw there have almonds, walnuts, pepitas, pecans, pistachios plus cranberries. The combination is great and you'll munch away until there's none left. It's also a healthy mix. On a quick internet research you'll discover that you'll get antioxidants, vitamin E, omega 3, reduced cholesterol, kidney/gallbladder stone prevention, lower risk of heart disease, etc. Research on each of the ingredients and you'll see what I mean.

Everytime you pour some in you hand, the certainty of getting a different mix each time and the fact that different combinations result to subtle variations on how your next mouthfull will taste is kinda fun and exciting.

Here's another fun thing to do with this mix - exploring your EQ ability by forcing yourself to pause eating and let your artistic talent flow then create a work of art before you continue eating. Well, my wife did the following art works while I was on the side munching away her art supplies. She only managed to make two before I ate everything hehe.

I hope this kind of mixed nuts reach Manila. Maybe some of you guys out there know where I can buy this locally.