Recipe 362: Oyster Cake

(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

1 and a half egg
1lb Oysters
2 stalks Scallions
Parsley (a small bunch)
3T Potato starch
1t Fish sauce
2c Beans sprouts
1t Chinese cooking wine
Salet and Pepper to taste

Procedure:

Put the oysters in a large container. Fill it with water to cover the oysters. Add a pinch of salt. Rub the oysters gently. Discard the water. Rinse the oyster for 5 or 6 times until the slimy stuff is gone. Let the oysters drain. The oysters do not need to be completely dry. 

Put oysters in a mixing bowl. Cut scallion into dices, add it to the oysters.

Cut parsley into small pieces, add it to the oysters.

Add 2T flour first and see if it covers the oysters. Gradually add a little bit more flour if needed. 

Add egg, fish sauce, scallion, parsley, Chinese cooking wine, a dash of salt and pepper to the mixture. Mix well.

Use a non-stick frying pan sprayed with oil, over high heat start adding the oyster mixture to the pan. Make it flat.  

Let it cook untouched for 5 minutes or so.Spray some oil on the top side of the oyster cake before flipping it over. Cook the other side for another 5 mins or so. Serve hot. Taste it. If you need it more salty, drizzle a few drops of fish sauce on top.

Margaret Shine by Three

ABOUT

I’m Margaret. I’m 18. I live a double life between Shine By Three and my second year of studying a Bachelor of Commerce/Laws at The University of Sydney. My BlackBerry is an extension of my arm, and my Canon 7D is an extension of my face.

Not many people know but I can...

Dance en pointe.

At the moment I'm listening to...

Case of You (Joni Mitchell - James Blake’s cover)

The craziest thing I've done for love is...

Gone without my BlackBerry, Wi-fi, and reception for four. Whole. Days.

The best advice I've ever received was...

You are what you Tweet. Own it.

My weakness has always been...

Pointless books, films, magazines, and music. Your intellect thrives on trash.

You'll never catch me...

In crocs and socks.

My current goal is...

To get through the next three and a half years of this Commerce/Law degree, and make a speedy move to a pretty apartment in New York City.

The best way to impress me is...

Red velvet cupcakes from scratch.

In Denial

MY SS13 FAVORITES

Chai

"Light" was the first word Richard Chai used to describe his collections this season. The question is, what kind of light? There were many kinds on the runway today. There was the glassy lightness of sheer nylon, deployed effectively throughout both his menswear and his Richard Chai Love womenswear collections. There was also the gossamer lightness of digitally printed floral silk fil coupé inserted into halter tops, and the anti-gravitational lightness of the designer's abbreviated fit-and-flare skirts, a key item for Spring 2013. And there was the pastel lightness of the palette, at its best in the opening section of icy lavenders and powder blues, and the light play of lamé and holographic sequins. But maybe the most important reading of "light" for Richard Chai this season had to do with tone: There was a winning lightness of spirit to these clothes. They looked fun to wear.

Katrantzou

There was once a certain kind of child who would collect stamps, or gather the money that relatives brought back from foreign travel, and dream about what each piece of paper represented, where it might have been, who had touched it on its journey round the world. For that child, a stamp, a banknote were small passports to an exotic otherness. Or maybe they were instruments connecting cultures. That's how Mary Katrantzou thought of them. She loved the stories they told. As borders changed and currencies became obsolete, stamps and banknotes lingered as tokens of the past, literal souvenirs of the values of other, lost cultures.

All the romance, melancholy, and beauty of those ideas were swept up in Katrantzou's latest collection, an absolute fashion tour de force. She's already proved she can make a ravishing print out of almost anything, and she has applied those prints to some extraordinary silhouettes, but form and content blended so effortlessly today that this felt like the point she'd been aspiring to since she started. It helped that stamps and banknotes have an innate two-dimensional symmetry that loans itself to abstraction in accessible shapes. And Katrantzou's shapes today were noticeably direct: A-lines, shirtdresses, shifts, and sheaths, offering ideal canvases. A stamp's serrated edges, for instance, provided a striking geometric border down the leg of slimline trousers. And the whorls and spirals of a banknote provided a luxurious pattern for a pantsuit in midnight blue brocade, especially when shot through with darkly sparkling Lurex.

Klein

Francisco Costa closed New York fashion week with a collection that delivered a strong sexual charge. Backstage he said, "It's erotic again, a continuation of last Fall and Spring," and cited as references the late Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, the artist Carsten Nicolai, and the power and precision of cars. The Calvin Klein girl may be a pinup next season, but she's an intellectual too. Costa opened with a black satin conical bustier dress, the model's belle poitrine outlined in silver. All signs pointed to the bust as this collection's erogenous zone. But Costa didn't ignore the waist or the legs, either. Peplums played a starring role, and narrow belts accented most of the looks. A pair of putty-colored silk gazar numbers might go down as the shortest dresses this designer has ever put on a runway.

As we said, though, this show had brains as well as beauty. What made it trademark Costa was the interesting fabric play. Adding a white lining to the black mesh he used for a skirtsuit produced a vibrating moiré effect, as did the parabolas of what looked like leather embroidery on a pair of dresses. These weren't just experiments for experimentation's sake. They were great looking. Another provocative idea, this one inspired by cars: draping a strapless cocktail dress from a gold metal frame. Ladies, rev your engines.

Rodriguez

The designer has been going from success to success lately, but this collection really got the blood pumping. And it wasn't just the girls in the crowd whose pulses were racing. Yes, there were pantsuits and beaded muscle tees and trousers that all nailed the way we want to look at work right now. But those slipdresses with the sheer mesh backs that plunged all the way to there—those were people-pleasers, and by "people" we mean those of the male variety. Satisfying both a woman's wardrobe needs and a man's eye, that's the whole package. And that's why this was the most successful lineup of Rodriguez's career. One high-profile retailer was so gobsmacked she said, "There's no reason why anybody should dress any other way."

How'd he do it? Backstage he played it modest. "I love my work," he shrugged, then added, "it's a good time in my life." It showed. Rodriguez dug into color for Spring: a blood orange sheath was bisected down the front and across the waist in brick; a teal and moss green crepe dress came with laminated-wood paillette embroidery; and one of those muscle tees was embellished with dense swirls of brick, marigold, and black beads. And then there was the sex. Rodriguez spliced shirts all the way down to the navel, and cropped the underpinning below the bust to reveal several provocative inches of midriff. He placed an arrowhead-shaped cutout at the solar plexus of an otherwise demure ivory silk sleeveless shift. 

Wu

"I want to do everything forbidden, everything you don't do." Helmut Newton said that. Surprisingly perhaps, the sentiment also fits for Jason Wu's new collection, which was influenced by the Newton retrospective that ran at the Grand Palais in Paris earlier this year. Provocation isn't traditionally part of Wu's arsenal; we don't need to remind you that this is the young man who dressed Michelle Obama for the Inauguration Ball. 

Lace and leather predominated and often came together, as they did on a backless black apron dress with laser-cut flowers at the hem and a fitted nude sheath with a point d'esprit bodice and tulle insets zigzagging down the torso. Lillian Bassman was another reference point, and her signature black and white images provided an x-rayed floral motif that was its own innuendo. A collaboration with the lingerie maker La Perla provided ample cause for all the sheer chiffons Wu used. Another time, a tanned and taut midriff was on full display between a lace bandeau top and kicky leather skirt.

Wang

"After last season's austerity," he explained, "I wanted to pull garments apart, experiment with volumes." Wang's is a precise kind of deconstruction. The clothes were all right angles—no asymmetries here—and the scalpel-sharp slices that separated the graphic panels of everything from a clinical white cotton shirtdress to a sand-dune-colored leather jacket were hand-tacked like sutures. As the show progressed, the splices became cutouts in wavy zebra stripes. The experiment reached its culmination in a series of sexy dresses that seemed to float on the body thanks to the invisible fish-line embroidery holding them together. The designer called the effect Tron-like. Fun fact: The first fishing line they tried melted under the heat of the irons used to press the samples, so team Wang had to devise a new one of their own.

Function often suffers when designers put so much emphasis on form, but that wasn't an issue here. Wang smartly stuck close to traditional American sportswear design. Spongy leather T-shirt dresses were modeled after baseball uniforms. Liberty Ross, a catwalker whose star appears to be on the rise after her husband's cheating scandal with Kristen Stewart, modeled a simple windbreaker. The black-light moment will be what people talk about and remember, but even without it, this was a powerful performance.

Heir to F1: P1

McLaren Automotive will use its first ever international motor show appearance to preview its next generation ultimate supercar – the McLaren P1 – which takes much of its technological and spiritual inspiration from the company’s Racing division. The McLaren P1 has one simple goal: to be the best driver’s car in the world on road and track.

Antony Sheriff, managing director of the operation, says outright pace is not the objective of the new model. “Our aim is not necessarily to be the fastest in absolute top speed but to be the quickest and most rewarding series-production road car on a circuit. It is the true test of a supercar’s all-around ability and a much more important technical statement. It will be the most exciting, most capable, most technologically advanced and most dynamically accomplished supercar ever made.”

Ahead of the public unveiling, McLaren is refusing to give any more details about the car. However, Autocar has managed to uncover some of the P1’s secrets. Despite the car’s dramatic exterior, it has a very similar footprint to the MP4-12C. 

McLaren sources say the P1 retains the “everyday usability” of the MP4-12C, with the same deep windscreen, narrow A-pillars and relatively slim width. In fact, the P1 is shorter than a current Porsche 911. 

The interior will be different from the 12C’s, with bespoke switchgear, but it is unclear whether the basic architecture of the cabin will remain unchanged. In contrast to the F1, which was unofficially the fastest production car in the world for a number of years, the company said performance characteristics of the P1 would skew toward quickness and ultimate lap times rather than top speed.Judging by the shape of the P1, the engine and transmission could be sitting much lower in the rear of the car. It looks as though the centre of the rear deck is rather lower than it is on the 12C. 

It seems likely that the intake manifold has been redesigned to sit lower on top of the engine and the exhaust system redesigned and rerouted.Also, judging by the huge air intakes feeding the P1’s engine compartment, there is a need to manage the high temperatures generated by the big hike in power. As well as the deep side intakes, there are also forward-facing vents mounted over the rear wheels, matched by large exhaust ports over the rear LED light strips.

The P1’s engine will not be a V10 or V12, and the latest information is that it will be a modified version of the 12C’s twin-turbo V8. Power will jump from just over 600bhp to about 800bhp at 9000rpm. This significant potential is supplemented by a KERS system — a pair of flywheels that can deliver up to 160bhp in short bursts.

Rumours suggest that the P1 will have a top speed of 239mph and a 0-60mph time of under three seconds. It is also said to have completely shattered the best lap time for a road-legal car at the Silverstone circuit. 

“The McLaren P1 will be the result of 50 years of racing and road car heritage,” Ron Dennis, executive chairman of McLaren, said in the release.

The arrival of the P1 next year is consistent with McLaren’s promise that it will launch a new car every year until 2020. It is also likely to be an investment for buyers. Just 108 F1s were made, originally costing £540,000 two decades ago; they now fetch up to £3.8 million at auction.More information will be released following the McLaren Automotive press conference scheduled for Thursday, September 27th.

Have you heard of: CUSHINE ET OCHS?

SS 13 Highlight: Pinoy Pride

Michelle Ochs is half Filipino, and since that makes her label one-quarter Filipino (as she joked a few days before the show), Ochs and design partner Carly Cushnie decided to look to the islands as a starting point for Spring. Needless to say, Ochs' mom was pretty pleased; to ensure the designers had plenty of source material, she dug up and sent over traditional clothes and family heirlooms for her daughter and Cushnie to work from.

In addition to mining traditional Filipino dress, the designers were also interested in evoking an island vibe. This led to their first foray into swimwear, and a splash of aqua in an otherwise black and white palette. The pair's strong graphic sensibility and love of framing the body's angles and curves make swim a natural extension for the brand; there's not much to go on yet—the two bikinis on the runway could best be described as tiny and tinier—but there's retail potential there. 

Outside of the pool, the interpretation of Filipino fashion staples generated the best results. A sheer, sleeveless silk chiffon blouse with floral embroidery was reminiscent of a man's formal dress shirt; paired with a sheer-paneled pencil skirt it looked light, feminine, and totally fresh. Later, a screen-printed lotus blossom on a curve-hugging dress in black sateen gave the sexy silhouette some welcome depth; ditto the embroidery on a sleek white shift that was copied from the detailing on Mrs. Ochs' wedding gown. Embroidery and surface embellishment are not usually part of this label's lexicon, and it was nice to see the designers exploring new territory. If a few of the other dresses were too reminiscent of Fall's formfitting, scalpel-cut-out collection, at least front-row guest Kate Bosworth—in a second-skin scuba knit—will be sure to find something she likes.

1 week, 7 days and 14 new restaurants (Part I)

MILKY and SUNNY all day breakfast

9 East Capitol Drive, Kapitolyo 

Pasig City. tel no: 02- 6542049

(From L-R: Bacon tostadas- taquitos with bacon instead of ground beef, Ham and Cheese Waffle- oohh cheesy goodness, Breakfast Enchilas, Big Plate- bacon, sausage, corned beef, golden hash brown and sunny side up egg, Eggs Benedict, Choco Marble Pancakes, Pizza Omelette- Tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes)

   

 BALKAN Yugoslavian home cooking

 Maripola Bldg. 109 Parea St. Legaspi Village

Makati City. tel no: 02-8460744

(from L-R: Goulash- stew of lean beef, onions and paprika served with noodles, Stuffed Pljeskarica- cutting open this pc of rubbery looking meat releases a generous amount of gooey cheese all over your fries, oh heaven!, Butkice- baked pork knuckle w/ caramelized skin and go so flavorful meat, Jagnjentina- a plate of super tender lamb; dubbed their house specialty, meat falling from the bones isn't the only wow factor but the spices they use are so unusual it gives this dish that unique taste you'll crave, Sarama- pickled cabbage stuffed with beef, rice and spices! its the perfect mix of sweet, sour and savory and finally, NUTELLA CREPE! need i say more.)

MINSOK Korean BBQ

5655 Don Pedro Corner Jacobo Street Poblacion

Makati City. tel no: 02-8959586

(from L-R: Melting the fat for oil, Samgyupsal- korean bacon, Kalguksu- Seafood soup with vegetables and handmade noodles, Deungjang Jjigae- mildly spicy soup with veggies and a little meat and tofu; this is perfect for rainy day weather, Kalbi Tang- beef strips, veg and egg in clear broth with glass noodles, Seafood Jeon- seafood and green onion pancake, Bibimbap- rice with meat, veg, egg and chili paste, Korean Short Ribs)

LOCALE Gastrobar

City Golf Compound, Julio Vargas Avenue

Ortigas Center, Pasig City. tel no: +639292533128 / +639279547414

(From L-R: Taco Salad, Fish and Chips- british style; soft and flaky on the inside and crispy but without batter on the outside, Keema rigatoni- india-talian at its best, truffle pasta- more like a truffle carbonara to me, flexing mussels- white wine, fennel butter and chorizo, angus meatballs, tarragon oysters, FOIE BURGER with bacon, Truffle pizza, Angus rib-eye)

UKIYO Japanese Restaurant

6th floor Alphaland Southgate Tower , Chino Roces corner

EDSA, Makati City. tel no: 02-3105253

(From T-B: Miso Kushikalu- japanese kebab/ bbq made with a remarkably flavorful sauce, Ukiyo Special Pasta- hand made greentea soba, uni and squid ink, Pork Kurabata- for shabu shabu, Taraba Kani- king crab from Hokkaido which has the sweetest meat I've tasted and most succulent that you can imagine perfect when dipped in vinegar and wasabi pepper salt, Ebi Arare Age- ebi tempura coated with rice crackers and fried to perfection)

That Missoni Girl (Part II)

Margherita Missoni is the 29-year-old face of the Italian fashion house—and a woman who knows exactly what she wants. (Just like me, a girl who knows what she wants like how I exactly know I wanna be all clad up in Missoni or Marni -- ALL THE TIME. anyway,) When she's not in Sardinia or on safari, Margherita is Missoni's accessories designer, responsible for everything from the famous 2011 Target line to the swimwear that she wears so well. Hero material indeed.

What she drinks: "I'm a red-wine person, but in the summer I'll have champagne on the rocks in a big glass. It's called a piscine, a swimming pool."

A gift, unwrapped: "My fiancé [race-car driver Eugenio Amos] sent me to his tailor to have suits made for me as a Christmas present. I take off all my clothes every time I get fitted at Missoni; I didn't know that men get measured with their clothes on, that they don't get completely naked. My boyfriend said I made the tailor a little nervous. I think he forgot to take some measurements."Where to eat in Milan: "Latteria in Via San Marco. It's tiny, and the menu changes every day. Get the pasta with lemon and peperoncino, if you can."She's up for anything: "I'm not a big sleeper. It just feels like wasting time. If I wake up and it's after 5 a.m., I stay up."Feet First: "Shoes are the first thing I notice on a man. I like classic styles—not too square, not too pointy, not too fashiony. There's a fine line between too much and too little effort."

My travel itinerary: "I went to Machu Picchu after Christmas. For my next trip, it's Bhutan and Burma, and then Namibia and Botswana for a bit of safari, a bit of landscape. I'm not a hang-out-on-the-beach type of girl."Lou Reed: "I want to walk down the aisle to Lou Reed singing 'This Magic Moment.' "

My Rock: "I'm not an easy person to give a ring to, but my boyfriend did a good job. It's 1920s Italian. But this isn't my engagement ring you see here—I wear mine on my middle finger because it looks better."Town and Country: "I bought a place in Milan, but Missoni headquarters are out in the country, in Sumirago. My whole family eats out of the same vegetable garden; my mother raises chickens. I love the city, but if you're always bombarded with stimulation, you get numb to it. I need to get bored to create."   (GQ.com)

Now here's more MM wearing Missoni:

Link to my previous post on Margherita : http://smileyserious.blogspot.com/2011/03/margherita-missoni.html

Newest Favorite: Tajimaya

There are not much Yakiniku places who actually do it right here in Manila. Yakimix, Robotosan, Tazamix... and other places like such disgust me... I don't even want to get into the details. 

Anyway, before Tajimay sufficed in the one rockwell strip, I used to eat at Urameshi-Ya at Little Tokyo all the time!!! The only problem with that place is that the restaurants aircon seems to be perennially broken! And the place, looks filthy especially having waitresses skunking around wearing promiscuous uniforms! But when it comes to the authenticity and realness of the restaurants food i'd give it a 101% and another bonus if you can cross order from other restaurants around. 

But, Never did I go back or even think about going to urameshi ever again though since Tajimaya opened last May at Rockwell. I'm there practically almost every sunday. Check out my pictures below and you'll understand why this has become MD and I's newest favorite.

(tip: order the chicken, its only P160, squirt some lemon on it though while grilling and ask for rock salt to drizzle over it when cooked. Go wagyu all the way or regular all the way, don't mix coz surely once you've tried the wagyu, no one would be touching the regulars. Don't forget to try their wagyu sashimi too. )

tajimaya menu: