When Tool is not busy being a tool and TAMS is not doing her domestic-goddess thing, they’re professional wedding photographers. (Do you hate them just a little bit? I do. With a big dosage of love.)

I went to dim sum with Tool the day before my road trip, so he could show me how to take (indoor) food photos. (He’d gifted me with the DSLR camera he first used as a wedding photographer. I was all sorts of excited, of course, and hope that my food photos taken with the DSLR will make y’all cry like his photos have done with brides. Yeah…that doesn’t make sense to me, either.)

One of my first shots with the DSLR. Uh-oh, my focus on the Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gao)  seems to be a bit off.

I think this photo of Pork Shui Mai turned out better.

I’d say I was getting the hang of the DSLR with this Garlic Spareribs one, but I know making such a statement will bite me in the behind later.

Chicken Feet. (Slammie, yoohoo~! This photo is especially for you.)

Oh, Pudding Cake! Except it wasn’t. Tool corrected me by saying it was…it was…um…

(It tasted like Turnip Cake, a typical dim-sum offering, but this version was even softer.)

Besides ordering, Tool also sauced up my plate with chili seeds in oil and soy sauce. I made him take a photo because I thought the colors looked cool.

Then I suggested he also snap some of his plate, because of the sauce’s shape.

“It looks like a moon!” I exclaimed.

“Oh really? I didn’t notice,” Tool replied.

“Such a boy,” I thought.

Egg Tarts! Gah, gah, gah!

Rice cakes with red-bean filling.

“Please, no pictures, I’m trying to eat here. Can it wait until after my meal?”

P.S. My arms aren’t really that short…I think.

Choco Baby! Um, baby.

This candy’s colors and cute font caught my eye, prompting me to pick it up at the Japanese supermarket.

After I held the candy in my hand, I realized it reminded me of an American item.

Tic Tac, anyone else?

Boy did I have fun shaking the Choco Baby container like I do with Tic Tacs, just to hear the rattle, rattle.

But have we all realized by now that things are not always how they first seem, when it comes to Japanese candies? Look closely at the photo…

Did you catch that, that, and that?

Star-imprints, oh dear.

And this smiley-face one? Well, finding it (not all of the chocolate tablets have imprints) made the candy rolling, inconsistent lighting, difficult angles, etc. worth it.

P.S. I may have photos to share with y’all of the Americanized Chinese food I mentioned in my previous post. I say may because I first need to figure out how to transfer it from the DSLR I used over the weekend. I know, me with a DSLR when I haven’t in any way mastered my usual digital camera?! It’s a very scary thing, indeed…

I’ll return to my above tease later in this post, because I’ve actually previously mentioned these type of mangoes. (Manila Mangoes are from Mexico.)

A box of Sweet Tamarind from Thailand.

Hello, Manila Mango, good to see you again.

You too, Sweet Tamarind.

Oh, are you two friends?

Sweet Tamarind, I’m sorry to have to say this, but you look a bit threatening with your orange tamarind fibers.

Your friend looks less threatening…I think. At least you both taste sweet and tart and cracking your shells like I would for crab is kind of fun.

Okay, so there’s a point to my um, food-talking. Or is it Cindy-you-so-crazy,-why-you-talking-to-food? deal. See, you put Manila Mangoes and (Sweet?) Tamarind together, and you get this—Dried Mangorind from the Philippines, another treat given to me by sweet Sarah Lynn.

I appreciated that the only work I had to do to get to the candy was to tear its wrapper.

Hmmm…

Ahhh, yum! Mangorind is a great candy because of all its different components: subtlety in mango and tamarind flavors, gummy texture, and how you literally chew on tiny sugar crystals. This candy, with its taste and awesome sugar-crystals coating, reminded me of the Dried Mangoes, another Filipino favorite of mine.

P.S. I’m sorry for the delay in posting. If you could tell work to stop getting into the way of actual fun things like blogging, I would appreciate it. And I’ve been getting ready to go on a road trip with a college girlfriend, a.k.a. the Food Moaner. When I went to Costco yesterday, I had a mantra going on in my head, Coke and bottled water. Because of that repeated phrase, I forgot to get snacks, like Chex Mix. But rest assured, I already have a couple of bags of Onion Flavored Rings at home, so we should be fine for crunchy snacks.

And oh, I may have photos of Americanized-Chinese food for y’all when I return. Why that type of Chinese food? you may be wondering. Well, this restaurant and its food hold a special place in my heart. Those things, along with the gravel pit I used to play in located behind the building.

Real-life friends and family know this, bless them, and so a member of the former bought me this Li Hing Powder while he was vacationing in Hawaii.

I like to think that this friend (hey, Jesus!) was passing along this message, too.

Look, it’s Mount Li Hing! Wow! Or not.

Now, upon reading the ingredients list, I have to wonder why Jesus, also more correctly known as Mr. Resident because Jesus is not his real name, got me this item. I mean, the lists reads as, “Plum Extract, Salt, Licorice, FD&C, Red #40, Yellow #5, Aspartame. Phenylketonuric: Contains Phenylalanine.”

Mr. Resident, what kind of oral-surgeon-in-training are you, giving me something containing mysterious ingredients?

An awesome one who knows me too well, I think.

Fresh pineapple covered in the powder. (Are you as surprised as I was to discover that I own a sifter? That mostly forgotten thing hadn’t seen kitchen light in years.)

Oh, and I had to ask a from-Hawaii relative how to use this powder that’s apparently popular in the area. He advised me to sprinkle it on fruits, like apples, and popcorn.

I had neither apples nor popcorn on hand, so fresh pineapple it was.

The powder proved to be not-so-mysterious because I’d experienced  its flavor before…it totally tasted like the coating on Preserved Fruit. Plum-y and sour-y. The powder added a nice and interesting flavor contrast to the pineapple, for sure.

Now, Mr. Resident, you know what you need to get me the next time you go to Hawaii, right? Macadamia Nuts with SPAM! Because you just cannot mention something like that to a food blogger without the physical evidence.

The predictable: Chicken Pad Thai.

I love me some CPT. But only if it’s done ‘right’, with chewy noodles coated in a sauce sour enough that the accompanying lime wedge is unnecessary.

And the chicken should be tender, as this was.

Yum…umm!

The wonder.

Mango Tapioca Pudding. A sweet treat for $1 a cup.

And this! The miracle. What I’d been searching restaurant menus all over the city for…

Mango With Sticky Rice.

It’s a seasonal summer dessert, which I should have remembered in my quest.

When it was finally placed in front of me, I felt a euphoria not unlike the one I get when I find a dress to wear to a wedding that makes me look skinny and is on sale.

The sweet mango was good, yes, but the sticky rice tasted even better.

And rounding out the miracle was coconut milk to drizzle over the rice (and mango). Did I say miracle? I meant bliss, as well.

Altoids got nothin’ on you, Kitty

Nothin’ on you, Kitty

Will I ever stop not-so-secretly loving Hello Kitty things and singing along to catchingly annoying songs on the radio? Let’s hope not for the former. I’d say for the latter, too, but I think passengers in my car would disagree.

Hello Kitty and flowers rule 4eva and eva.

Lips…candy? Lips candy? And a frowning pineapple?!

Okay, this makes sense.

Mixed-fruit-flavored hard candy. I’m not quite sure which fruits—the tin shows drawings of a pineapple and banana and “concentrated apple juice” is listed as an ingredient, yet I can really only taste pineapple. Whatever the fruits, they give a pleasant flavor that’s not too strong or weak.

Be careful when you open the tin because it and the candy are covered in powdered sugar. You may want to keep the tin in a Ziploc baggie if you leave it in your purse.

I am so keeping the tin, Kitties.

* Lyrics were tweaked from Nothin’ On You.

That’s right, Lumpia, the Filipino egg rolls. Because my high school days are long over, I had to order these ones filled with ground pork, celery, carrots, and onions marinated in spices at a sit-down restaurant.

The egg rolls are slender, so you can eat as many as you want without feeling too guilty. Or so I’ve heard.

I liked the restaurant’s sweet dipping sauce.

Garlic Fried Rice. Did you read that? Garlic! Fried! Rice! This version could’ve used a lot more garlic. (Is there such a thing as too much garlic? Dracula says “Yes!” but I say, “No!”) If any readers have a good Garlic Fried Rice recipe, please do share.

A good start…

Made better with additional seasonings, as the rice tasted a bit bland despite the garlic.

This soy sauce with calamansi added saltiness and sourness to the rice.

While this small bottle gave a kick.

Beef Inihaw.

Grilled top sirloin with garlic-pan gravy, served atop shredded iceberg lettuce.

Gravy is good, don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.

Sometimes when you’re at a restaurant and don’t know what to order, it’s a good idea to look to other diners. We copied several patrons by ordering Halo-Halo for dessert.

While we waited for it, we watched a Filipino variety show (?). And overheard:

Conversation One at a table comprising six adults, four children, and four orders of Halo-Halo:

We ordered frog legs at the restaurant.

Like chicken.

Conversation Two at an adjacent table with two ladies:

She was making five omelets at once…flip, flip, flip, flip, flip!

What you see isn’t necessarily what we got. More on that three photos down. For now, you see taro ice cream and leche flan.

Yeah, because the ice cream was taro-flavored, it should appear purple. But because I know like three functions on my digital camera, it’s Smurf-blue. I’ve always liked Smurfs…

The leche flan is appearing in the appropriate color, so there.

Buried beneath the shaved ice is…stuff. Including coconut gel, sugar palm, jackfruit, banana, and tapioca pearls. Where’s the jackfruit, you wonder? (Or maybe you don’t.)

Here!

I liked most everything in the Halo-Halo, except the rubbery pieces of banana.

One of the best ends to an Asian-restaurant meal, besides dessert and fortune cookies.

Sooo…I kinda, sorta, am well-acquainted with Lean Cuisine, Stouffer’s, and Marie Callender’s frozen foods. Ajinomoto ones, however, not so much.

Hmmm, this Chicken Kamameshi seemed like it might be good based on its description on the carton.

I still felt good about trying it, after removing the film.

A bowl of steaming…something…after four minutes in the microwave. (The day I bought my first microwave was one of the best in my life.)

Chicken, carrots, bamboo shoots, and green soybeans.

Oh, and shiitake.

All atop dashi-flavored rice.

The Chicken Kamameshi tasted better than expected (I usually don’t have high expectations for new-to-me frozen meals).

The dark-meat chicken remained tender, and the assorted vegetables tasted steam-fresh. I couldn’t quite pinpoint the flavor of the chicken, which was unfamiliar in a good way. At the sale price of about $4, I wouldn’t buy this frozen item again, though. It’ll be back to being on a familiar basis with the often-on-sale-for-less Lean Cuisine, Stouffer’s, and Marie Callender’s. Okay, who am I kidding—I really mean only Stouffer’s (Sesame Chicken!) and Marie Callender’s (Grilled Chicken Alfredo Bake!).

Over the glass case my digital camera-holding hands flew, and *click*. Black Cod for $18.99 a pound.

I then whipped my arms back behind the case, and bent my legs slightly. Oyster, Kogane Style ($2.45 each).

A shuffle to the right. Salmon, Kogane Sauce.

Still no mean lady in sight, so I twisted my camera this way and that, looking for a good angle. Pork Belly.

More time? I dropped to a crouch. Salted Mackerel.

Uh-oh, was that her? One last shot, standing front and center. Breaded Chicken Skewer.

Whatcha think—do I have a future as a food paparazzo or should I keep my day job?

Beef Brisket and Sui Gow Noodle Soup, my order.

Are you feeling a little bit of anticipation, too?

Sui gow is a Chinese-style dumpling.

The underside of the sui gow, with visible tray marks. (A restaurant cook was making the dumplings a few tables behind us. After spooning the raw filling into the beige-colored wrappers, she would place the dumplings onto a grid-patterned tray.)

I scooped up the dumpling with a Chinese soup spoon, and as you can see, it fit but the wrapper overflowed. The filling was minced pork, Chinese mushrooms, and shrimp.

Tender beef brisket.

Egg noodles.

My friend’s bowl of Won Ton Noodle Soup.

The won tons were made of minced pork and chopped shrimp.

The noodles were garnished with yellow chives.

The service and food were as expected. Not caring to wait for a table to be cleared before we sat down, my friend and I chose one covered with empty soup bowls and half-filled water glasses. Then we waited…and waited…for menus and the table to be cleared. When the waitress finally came to our table, she poured water into the glasses! We explained that they belonged to the previous diners. She did apologize profusely for the oversight, which half-surprised me. So we ordered and discussed a return visit and all was good.