Hunger for The Hunger Games

I just spent the last few days hungry for Peeta Mellark. Haha.
I honestly never imagined myself reading another book. After Twilight Saga, and even before that, I got lazy of reading books. I fell in love with Edward Cullen; I had to make sure he won. Reading The Hunger Games was impromptu. I really just wanted to know how it ended since I wasn't able to finish the movie. But once I started reading it, I got so attached to the character of Peeta. Haha. It's hard not to love him. The next thing I knew, after on/off reading the first book within 12 hours, my mind just won't stop thinking about him. I had to sleep, of course. But I have the tendency to not stop til I get to the end, just how I'd go sleepless whenever I start watching a series and not ending it. REALLY. That has always been a problem of mine. That's why I've been skipping Korean TV Series nowadays. Haha.
After reading The Hunger Games, the first book, I immediately got myself some sleep, but after 2 hours, my mind was once again back to Peeta. I felt really bad for him after the first book. And I can't help but picture the boy from 'The Bridge to Terabithia', shedding tears. Oh, how he made me cry!
So, after 2 hours of sleep, I started reading Catching Fire, the second book, again for 12 hours on/off, without knowing I'd want to continue even more after the second book. Haha. I swear I had to find myself some diversion just to stop myself from thinking about him, and start reading the third book. We even baked blueberry cheesecake just to keep me distracted.
CRAZY! I KNOW!
Peeta's just impossible not to love!
Haha.
After the second book, I managed to get myself 4 hours of sleep before starting with Mockingjay, the third book. Haha. I love how it ended. Although the middle part had me cursing Katniss! Haha.
I just love Peeta! ;D

Eureka! Black Tapioca Pearls

The proliferation of bubble milk tea places in the Philippines is pretty undeniable.
Bubble Tea, otherwise known as pearl milk tea or boba milk tea, originated from Taiwan. They are basically tea-based drinks mixed with milk and/or fruits, and usually have chewy tapioca balls commonly known as 'pearls'.

If my memory serves me right, my very first bubble tea experience was 2 years ago - a caramel milk tea from  Bubbatealicious in Divisoria Mall.

I'm a sucker for caramel, btw. :))

Anyway, one evening last summer, I craved for milk tea. I don't know how or why, but it felt like my throat was thirsty for a creamy tea. So I promised to get myself a milk tea first thing in the morning. I was so excited that I wasn't even able to sleep. The moment my sister woke up, I asked her to accompany me. And so she did. I have said before that Divisoria have almost everything. The market was no more than a 10-minute walk from our home. When we arrived at the market, I immediately looked for black pearls, but no luck. We bought clear tapioca pearls then, and tried to "improvise". We didn't go home empty-handed not because we bought clear pearls, but because we were so amused; we bought almost everything we wanted to eat but had to buy - like french fries, flavored shakes, chips, and cheese sticks. Haha. My mom was SO SURPRISED when we got home. She didn't expect us to be out for too long, but we were gone for over 2 hours. And we brought home a lot of things, we even had an ice chest for the shaved ice, when we got home.

Anyway, my improvised black pearl wasn't all that bad. We had it for a couple days, til we got tired.

Then came my DAD'S BLACK PEARL OBSESSION!
Why obsession if you may ask? He kept buying pearl milk teas and pearl shakes after we had him taste one from Happy Lemon.
His preference? Whatever the flavor is, as long as it has 0% sweetness, and THREE TIMES pearl add-ons for an order.
And for the record: HE'S VERY MUCH A WATER PERSON -- before his obsession at least. :))

We all got addicted to the point that my dad asked me to look for black pearls in Divisoria. I told him my "black pearl story", and said it's impossible for Divisoria not to have black pearls. I even told him I BELIEVED that, too. Haha.
And since my dad is a "pusher", I searched wider, until I found one in Divisoria Mall.
Haha.

Our search is finally oveeerrrrr! ;D

P70 for 1kl black tapioca pearl

Uncooked black pearls must be handled with care because they tend to pulverize easily.

And if you plan to buy:

* I suggest you buy the vacuum-sealed ones to keep their shape.

* And you need to transfer the pearls gently to another container to let them breathe.

No, they're not alive. :))

But they do need air to get separated.

I didn't do it my first time so almost half of it went to trash.

Some pearls got stuck together and didn't get cooked.

They are hard to separate once they're already in the water.

* Also, follow the cooking instructions on the case, especially the draining part.

We had one incident where my sister forgot to drain the pearls after 30 mins. And the next thing we knew, the pearls sucked in some water already, so they lost their chewiness.

Btw, they also sell milk tea flavor powders for P85 per 500g pack.

Rice Surprise! ;D

Now, this is something I NEVER imagined nor wanted to SHOUT OUT LOUD:

I CAN'T COOK -- a decent meal, at least.

I clearly remember being a kitchen resident when I was a kid.

My sibs, cousin, and I would often creep at night to rob our fridge and sneak off ingredients for our fried rice and scrambled eggs; we would then be scolded the next day by the cook for the mess we made. 

We have OUTGROWN that 'HABIT', but I guess we have failed to let GROW our 'COOKING WITS'.

Over a decade had passed, and the only means of cooking we know is STILL JUST FRYING.

Yes, STILL JUST FRYING, which means we can't even cook rice.

SHAME ON US, I know!

BUT NOT ANYMORE!

Haha.

Well, at least not for me :)

My mom was M.I.A yesterday because my little brother got confined.

Our helpers were no longer staying in and don't arrive til 6 in the morning.

My sibs' and daughter's classes start as early as 6:45 am, so they need to be fed early.

I, being the eldest, need not be told that the responsibility lies on my shoulder.

Upon learning that I was going to cook, my princess promised to help me.

She felt the need to get a chicken tocino as props. Haha.

When I was about to cook the rice, I told her I didn't know how to cook rice.

Haha.

She then told me: 'Huh? Sige, ta-try ko... *pauses* lagyan mo ng tubig'.

.

Haha. 

I find it so cute that she was instructing me as if she really knows how to cook rice.

Definitely my best cooking experience.

And the second best part?

I was able to serve them a 'well-cooked rice' -- a DECENT BREAKFAST!

Woohoo!

When my sister was about to serve the rice,
 I stopped her and told her that I'm so proud of what I've done,
and that I need to take a picture as a souvenir and a proof. Haha.

It was really a great learning experience.

My daughter and I had a great bonding time while cooking, and the rice went oh so well.