Condominium Living - Philippines

Induction Cooking Recipe: Pork Menudo

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Equipment:

Kyowa KW-3631 Induction Cooker
Sunnex 20cm pan with induction base

Raw Materials:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon onion, chopped
1/4 kilo pork thawed and cut into rectangular pieces
1/2 teaspoon crushed black pepper
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1 potato, peeled and cut into cubes
1 green bell pepper chopped
1 carrot, peeled and cut into cubes
1 piece bay leaf

Procedure:

Place the pan on the induction cooker. Put a water droplet or two on the pan. Turn on the induction cooker and set it to 1000W or 250 degrees celsius. Set the timer to 2 minutes. This should be sufficient to make the water droplets evaporate which simply means that your pan is hot enough.
When the water droplets are all gone, add 1 table spoon of oil, heating it for 1 minute at the 1000W power setting.
Add the garlic and onions. Lower the power setting to 400W. Saute for 1 minute.
Add the pork, black pepper and fish sauce. Maintain the power setting at 400W and saute for 3 minutes.
Add tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of water. Maintain the power setting at 400W and cook for 15 minutes.
Add the potatoes and green bell pepper. Maintain the power setting at 400W and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the carrots and the bay leaf. Maintain the power setting at 400W and cook for 5 minutes.
Season to taste by adding salt or some more fish sauce

Induction Cooking Recipe: Skinless Longganisa

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Equipment:

Kyowa KW-3631 Induction Cooker
Sunnex 20cm pan with induction base

Raw Materials:

4 pcs Pampanggas Best Skinless Longganisa thawed
Cooking Oil

Procedure:

Place the pan on the induction cooker. Put a water droplet or two on the pan. Turn on the induction cooker and set it to 1000W or 250 degrees celsius. Set the timer to 1 minute. This should be sufficient to make the water droplets evaporate which simply means that your pan is hot enough.
Add enough oil to the pan so that it is about half the height of the longganisa. Heat the oil with the power level set to 1000W until it starts to bubble.
Set the power level to 400W. Add the longganissa to the pan and set the timer for 3 minutes. Keep rolling the longganisa so as not to burn or overcook one side
Remove the longganisa from the pan and place them on a plate topped by some table napkins to drain excess oil
Serve hot with vinegar+salt sauce

Induction Cooking Recipe: Chicken Noodles

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:05:00 +0000

Equipment:

Kyowa KW-3631 Induction Cooker
Pot with induction base
Knife

Raw Materials:

1 Pack of Lucky Me Chicken Noodles
2 cups of water
1 whole egg

Procedure:

Add 2 cups of water to the pot then cover it. Turn on the induction cooker and set the mode to Boil.
While the water is still boiling, open the pack of noodles, take out the pack of seasoning and put it aside.Crush the noodles by squeezing the pack or you can use something heavy to pound on it. Make sure to hold the opening tight while doing this else some noodles might fall out.
When the water is already boiling, add the noodles. Change the mode to Chafing and set the timer for 3 minutes. Lower the power level to 400W. Cover the pot.
After 2 minutes, crack open the egg and add its content to the pot. Immediately use a ladle to stir the pot making sure that the egg is disbursed evenly. Cover the pot.
When the 3 minutes are up, add the contents of the pack of seasoning. Stir with a ladle making sure that the seasoning is disbursed evenly.
Serve while still hot

Induction Cooking Recipe: Hotdogs

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Equipment:

Kyowa KW-3631 Induction Cooker
Non-stick Sunnex Pan
Knife

Raw Materials:

4 pcs Purefoods Jumbo Hotdog thawed
2 tablespoons of water
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Procedure:

Make 3 equidistant diagonal cuts on a hotdog up to its center. I usually start at the middle, cutting to the center then I cut about an inch to the left of my first cut and one more to the right. Roll the hotdog to the opposite side and make 4 equidistant diagonal cuts. The cuts ensure that the insides of the hotdogs get cooked. Do this for the other hotdogs
Place the pan on the induction cooker. Put a water droplet or two on the pan. Turn on the induction cooker and set it to 1000W or 250 degrees celsius. Set the timer to 1 minute. This should be sufficient to make the water droplets evaporate which simply means that your pan is hot enough.
Turn the induction cooker back on this time lowering the setting to 400W or 140 degrees celsius. Add 2 tablespoons of water and the hotdogs to the pan. Roll the hotdogs continuously until the water has evaporated. This should take roughly 3 minutes.
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and continue rolling the hotdogs for about 3 minutes. You can use the timer if you don't like counting in your head manually.
Remove the hotdogs from the pan and place them on a plate topped by some table napkins to drain excess oil
Serve while still hot

Kyowa KW-3631 Induction Cooker Review

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:41:00 +0000

I've had the Kyowa KW-3631 for two months and it has served me well. This particular model is generally black in color which exudes a neutral clean look. It operates with 4 power levels:

400W (140 degrees Celsius)
700W (200 degrees Celsius)
1000W (250 degrees Celsius)
1300W (275 degrees Celsius)

The model also has timer features. Users can set the timer in 10 minute and/or 1 minute chunks. This is essential in ensuring that the food being prepared is cooked in the correct amount of time. It also has several modes of operation:

Milk
Soup
Boil
Cooking
Steam
Fry Vegetables
Chafing Dish
BBQ

Of these modes, the Milk mode is a bit different as the other modes simply sets the power level automatically. Whem set in milk mode, the display will not indicate the power level that the device is using. Also, the timer function is only available when the device is in Chafing Dish Mode. When in this mode, users can also adjust the power level manually by pressing the Plus or Minus button.

Cooking soup based dishes is very easy with this appliance. You just set the timer to the appropriate value and leave the pot alone. It does take a bit of getting used to when it comes to frying stuff. See the other articles on this site for some tips on cooking with induction and step by step recipes to get you started.

For the price of PHP 1,200.00 at SM Megamall's home section, the Kyowa KW-3631 is a steal and will provide you with a gentle introduction to the world of induction cooking. I only wish that there was a power setting that will allow simmering i.e. generating a temperature a little less than 100 degrees Celsius.

Learning to cook

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:13:00 +0000

Moving out of my parents house forced me to learn a lot of things and one of them was cooking.

Just like any true blooded geek, I scoured the internet for resources on the subject and I found several interesting sources, one of them was this book from Anthony Bourdain:

In one of the chapters, Anthony recommended that one should get a good quality Chef's knife and paring knife. He suggested getting one from Global.

Unfortunately, the Global brand is NOT readily available in the Philippines so I looked around for something similar, a knife which is made of one piece stainless steel making it hygienic and easy to clean. I found a candidate replacement in Sunnex Professional Stainless Steel Knives. I'll post a review as soon as I get one. I got a cheap non-professional knife to tide me over for now.

I opted to go the induction cooker route for several reasons. It's cool to cook using invisible electro-magnetic waves. Based on my research, it should be fairly efficient electricity wise and cost wise. It's also cool literally i.e. no open flame means the kitchen does not get as hot compared to using a gas stove. There is an important drawback to using an induction cooker, it will only work with cooking vessels made of magnetic material. Depending on whether you already have a substantial investment in non-magnetic cookware, this could be a deal breaker for you. As I didn't have any cookware yet, it was no problem for me. I purchased a cookware set made by Eagle ware. It was relatively inexpensive and was made of magnetic material. It consisted of 4 varying sizes of pots and a pan.

Cooking using the above cookware had varying results. I had no problem with soups and stews. The pots were adequate. I had a problem with using the pan for frying things. It's either I end up with burnt food or food that's not yet cooked on the inside. I'm also unable to produce good omelets or sunny side up eggs and even pancakes as they end up sticking to the pan. After a week of trying, I gave up on the frying pan and purchased one with a non-stick coating from Sunnex. This solved my frying problems.

There's a certain trick to cooking with induction. The cooking time and procedure of a recipe needs to be adjusted to account for the different characteristics of this style of cooking. I will be posting adjusted recipes as soon as I get it down to a science.

Online at last!

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:23:00 +0000

Thumbs up to PLDT. I paid the installation fee last Saturday and their contractor came to my place on Monday afternoon. The only problem is I was at work. The guy came back early yesterday and got the phone and the DSL line installed. Now to see if the service is as horrible as its rumored to be.

One month into the adventure

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:18:00 +0000

It's been one month since I moved in and a few things I've learned and realised:

I should have delayed buying a washing machine and pay for laundry services instead. In the end, it will end up being cheaper if I factored in the soap, water, electricity and my time and effort.
I should have taken care of internet connectivity ASAP so I can blog about my experience regularly.
I should have bought a more advanced induction cooker specifically something with very accurate temperature controls. The one I have does not have settings for temperatures below 140 degrees celsius.

I now know how to prepare a few dishes like:

sunny side up egg
omelet
longganisa
hotdog
ulam burger
pancake
chicken nuggets
pansit canton
noodles
tinolang manok
nilagang baboy

I finally moved

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:33:00 +0000

I finally moved in to the unit last Saturday. I still don't have a phone line and an internet connection so the updates to this blog might come slower especially during the weekend. I got to the unit around noon and was disappointed when the guard told me that a delivery truck left just a few minutes before I arrived. I had no choice but to wait for them to return. All the items I was waiting for arrived late in the afternoon:the bed from Mandaue Foam, the Samsung refrigerator, washing machine and airconditioner. Images to follow.

The long awaited pictures

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:44:00 +0000

Furnishing the unit: Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:46:00 +0000

In order for the unit to be livable, we really need to decide on what queen sized mattress to get. Here are our options:

6" Uratex Orthocare @ 14,000.00
6" Senso Memory Foam Mattress @18,000.00
6" Flex/Memory Foam with cotton cover @ 7600.00
6" Flex/Memory Foam with quilted spring cover @ 9,000.00
14" Memory Foam/Gala Spring Mattress @ 13,900.00

We believe that the 14" Memory Foam/Gala Spring Mattress @ 13,900.00 offered the best value for money at this point even though I could not find any reviews on the internet. We went back to the Mandaue Foam showroom to place our order. The staff who handled our purchase was very accomodating. We even took the bed sheet we got the day before and tried it on the sample mattresses. We also found some nice pillows to go with the new mattress. All in all, the items we purchased added to a total of 15,080.00 which already includes deliver charges. It also includes the 10% discount since I opted to pay in cash via EPS. The discount would have been lower (5%) had I used my credit card to pay. I hope to provide more feedback on the mattress and pillows once they deliver it on Saturday. We went to visit the unit primarily to take measurements and to take some pictures. Will upload them soon.

Refrigerator - L:21 W:27 H:67
Washing Machine - L:24 W:24
Small bedroom window - L:77 W:35
Big bedroom window - L:77 W:71
Living room window - L:47 W:47
Front door - W:36
Airconditioner - W:23.5 H:15.5
Planned Counter - L:48 W:24 H:40
Planned Shower Glass - W:72 H:56
Planned Bathroom Cabinet - L:10 W:18
Planned Bathroom Mirror - W:40 H:30

And the buying begins

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:11:00 +0000

Our first stop for the day is the Uratex outlet located in QC. We are considering getting the Orthopedic Mattress(14k@7yrs warranty) and the Senso Memory Mattress(18k@10 yrs warranty)

We next went to Mandaue Foam located at the corner of Quezon Avenue and BMA Avenue. They also had a spring mattress with a memory foam topper which in my opinion provides more value for money. After looking around the store, we took a quick lunch in the nearby Chowking outlet.

We then proceeded to Ortigas Home Depot where we were almost convinced to buy overpriced appliances we don't really need at this point. The details of the story can be found here. We looked around the facility but we didn't find anything we liked except some high stools which we could use for the planned meal counter.

We then went to SM Megamall where there was an ongoing sale of appliances. Most of the items aren't exactly on sale. Instead, they can be purchased on installment. After checking out all the booths, we settled on the following:

Refrigerator: Samsung no frost 7 cubic feet
Washing Machine: Samsung 8kg Fully automatic
Airconditioner: Samsung 3/4 HP with timer and remote

We didn't purchase anything yet as we had to make sure the appliances would fit the planned spaces. I'll probably pay for them late monday evening. Next, we went to the department store's home section where we bought:

Water dipper(tabo)
Pail
Laundry Basket
Hangers(2 dozen)
Basin
Ironing Board
Toilet Brush
Bath Towel
Soft Slippers
Sanitized Bed Sheet and Pillow Case

All of the items above adds up to 3,727.00. We also got a teflon coated dry iron at the appliance section for 900.00. We also bought 2 units of Dehumidifier and a unit of Glade scented gel from Blade to improve the smell of the unit although to be honest, I don't mind that the unit smells like brand new.

All in all, we spent a total of 4,902.25 for the first day of purchases. More purchases to come.

Receiving the keys

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:00:00 +0000

I was contacted by my realtor, friday last week, to inform me that my unit is ready for final punch listing. I scheduled it and went to see the unit last Wednesday. I had minor complaints at that time which the turnover group promised to fixed within a few days. I got a call the following day informing me that the unit is now ready for acceptance. I skipped a few hours of work at lunch to go to tivoli gardens and handover a check amounting to 15k for the move-in fees and to finally accept the keys to my kingdom. The keys in my hand gave me a sense of achievement. I will be posting pictures of the building, its surroundings and the bare unit soon.

Doing the numbers

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:42:00 +0000

I got some expert advise from some people who have done this before. They told me to consider prioritizing based on activities:

moving around in your home - subtotal:4,200

Item	Price	Notes
front door lock	no price info	I was advised to use bolts. No idea yet what to get.
fluorescent bulbs	???	Light emitted by the bulbs have different properties which are appropriate for certain activities. Color Rendering Index(CRI) measure how accurately a lighting source renders the color of objects when compared to sunlight. The CRI of sunlight is 100. Color Correlated Tempearture(CCT) refers to how warm or cool the light emitted by the bulb. Warm light(2500-3000K) is characterized by a yellowish color ideal for dining room, living room and bedroom. Cool light(4500-5000K) characterized by a yellow white to white color ideal for use in the kitchen. The international color code is often used to denote the temperature of a lamp's light. This code is a three digit number. The first digit refers to the color rendering index: if it is 8, then the CRI is between 80 and 90, if it is 9, it lies between 90 and 100. The next two numbers are the color temperature (to the nearest hundred) divided by one hundred kelvins, thus if the temperature is 6500 K, the number is 65.

sleeping - subtotal:28,700

Item	Price	Notes
mattress	1,300 or 7,900 or 23,000	The cheapest option is to get a queen sized air bed for 1,300, the next one is to get a 4" Uratex Comfort Plus Foam with a 2" Bio Aire Mattress topper for 7,900 and the most expensive one and the most comfortable as claimed by the various salesmen we talked to is a spring mattress from slumberland. The particular model comes in at 23,000.
bed frame	no price info	I believe the cheapest route is to have someone custom build a frame. I found several platform beds online that I'll show to a furniture shop so they can give me a quoute. Another option is to just purchase a 6x8 carpet initially and put the mattress on top of it. The carpet can later be reused if I'm able to get a frame.
bed sheet/pillow cover/comforter	4,800	Found good quality sets on sale in SM Megamall
pillows	no price info	Still have to do research on this
airconditioner	15,000	Planning on getting a 0.8hp Condura, the one with a timer, a remote control and a special plug that will allow us to connect an electric fan so that when the airconditioner shuts-off, the fan turns on.
stand fan	1,000	my brother claims that the industrial types last longer

preparing for work

Item	Price	Notes
mirror	no price info	the bathroom finish does not include mirrors

doing the laundry - subtotal:11,200

Item	Price	Notes
washing machine	10,500	8.5kg whirlpool unit with dryer
flat iron	700	3D steam and dry iron

eating and drinking - subtotal:20,300

Item	Price	Notes
refrigerator	15,000	no frost models are less power efficient but are much easier to maintain
rice cooker	1,300	3D 2.5L Stainless Rice Cooker,Model MF-90S. I tried looking for one that uses induction but haven't found one yet
induction stove	2,200	I found several but I don't know if they are any good.
air pot	1,800	3D 3.2 Liters Stainless Electric Airpot, Model AX-300E

Current total not including things that still need canvassing: 64,400

front lock
bed frame
mirrors
pillows

Everything else, I plan to borrow and steal from people who'd let me. Thanks in advance.

Planning the interior

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:34:00 +0000

The realtors where kind enough to send me the floor plan for my unit. This is the first time I'll be on my own and also the first time for me to fill up a place with stuff to make it livable. I am open (read as begging) to any/all your suggestions.

Tentative List of essential things to get:

Bedroom
- queen size bed
- carpet
- aircon
- pillows,sheets,blankets,curtains
- stand fan
- mirror
Bathroom
- mirror
- toiletries
- towels
- pails
Kitchen
- refrigerator
- rice cooker
- induction stove
- turbo broiler
- microwave oven
- airpot
- oven toaster
- plates,saucers,pitchers,glasses,utensils
- pots,pans,cookware
Living Room
- sofa
- bean bags
- center table
- mirror
- curtains
Dining Room
- table
- chairs
- mirror
Others
- washing machine
- flat iron
- hangers

Please leave a comment if I missed something you think is essential. Better yet, link back to this post and answer on your blog or profile. Up next, I'll be doing the numbers i.e. how much do these things really cost and where to get them on the cheap without sacrificing quality

Making the Down payment

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Sat, 30 May 2009 19:00:00 +0000

I met with the realtor who handled my purchase at the Tivoli Gardens sales office. It was a bit embarassing because they were early and I was late. If you've never purchased a property before that required you to issue post dated cheques then you might be surprised just how tiring it is. First, I had to sign the contract. The contract is about a dozen pages, I had to sign on all the pages and I had to sign SIX(6) copies. I thought the worse was over but I was wrong. Next came cheque signing, I had to issue 33 post dated cheques, filling up the date field, amount field, amount in words field and payee field. I then had to print my full name and sign it. My advice is, don't do this in one sitting like what I did. Prepare the cheques in advance, say a dozen every day, so you don't end up with a strained wrist.

Preparing the Down payment

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Sat, 23 May 2009 19:00:00 +0000

If you're like me, you probably don't have all your money in just one account in just one bank. To come up with the down payment, I had to open a checking account at the bank where my salary account is at. I then had to transfer most of what I have saved from my savings account in another bank to this new checking account. The first step involves going to the bank branch where the company I am working for opened my salary account. All that is needed is to fill up a form and make a PHP 5,000.00 deposit and pay PHP 120.00 for the cheque book. I also enrolled both accounts into the online banking system of the bank which will allow me to transfer funds between the two accounts with minimal fuzz. For the next step, I had to transfer the bulk of my savings to the new checking account. I am not comfortable with lugging around a large sum of cash so lucky for me, I already have a cheque book and used it to transfer the required amount. To know what happens next, stay tuned.

Making the reservation

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Sat, 09 May 2009 19:00:00 +0000

It was a rainy and gloomy afternoon when I finally made my decision. Making a reservation for me means that barring any unforseen life changing event, I'm going to push thru with the purchase of the condo unit. I'm not in the habit of throwing away sizable amounts of cash. Before I paid, I asked to see the unfinished unit. I wanted to visualize where I will be spending the next few years of my life. Normally, they don't allow clients to see the unfinished units but they made an exception in my case. It really helped me see myself living in the unit. The down payment for a unit in Tivoli Gardens is PHP 20,000.00. I believe the amount is fairly standard as most of the other projects I looked at also asked for this amount. Once you pay this amount, the unit is reserved for you for one month. You have one month to complete the requirements otherwise the reservation you made will be forfeit. It was very convenient for me to make the reservation. I didn't have to bring any cash, instead I used my credit card to pay for the reservation at the DMCI sales office in Tivoli Gardens.

Choosing a condo

noreply@blogger.com (]-[3n40) — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:00:00 +0000

So you're like me, thinking about purchasing a condo to live in. Here are a few things I considered that you may want to also think about:

Location - My ideal location is at most 30 minutes away from where I work. This requirement rules out a lot of the other projects since I work in Makati. Your own ideal location maybe driven by other factors like proximity to a school or hospital of choice but for me, being close to Makati is at the top of my list.
Delivery - I don't want to wait too long for my unit. I want to live in it ASAP. This next requirement again crossed out a lot of projects on my list.
Developer - I did some research on the developers of each of the projects to form an informed opinion whether they can finish the project or not. I checked their track record and read about any news of financial trouble or other problems.
Amenities - I thought about what amenities I would be using frequently. I really would like to go back to exercising and an in-house gym would be really nice. Most of the projects I checked had this so it shouldn't be any problem.
Monthly Dues - This is usually computed on a per square meter basis. This is the price you pay for the 24-hour security and the use of the amenities. This can range from a low PHP 50.00 per sqm to a high PHP100.00 per sqm.
Move-in Fees - This includes the meter deposit and the association membership fees.
Price and Payment scheme - I took a lot of time going over the payment schemes of the different projects I am eyeing. Most of the projects required a reservation fee, and a 20% downpayment and a move-in fee. I sat down and did the math to determine the total cash I needed to have to buy into a project. As it turned out, this last step eliminated almost all my choices except for a few. I also had to determine whether I can live with the monthly amortization:
Total Monthly Net Income - Total Monthly Expenses > Monthly Amortization

With all these things considered, I chose to purchase a unit at Tivoli Gardens. It's near Makati. The first building was finished in January of 2009 and fortunately, they still had a few units available. The developer of the project is DMCI. I've heard a lot of good things about them and none of the bad things that would have immediately made me wary. The project includes a gym and nice water facilities. The floor area of my unit is a little less than 50sqm. The monthly dues that I will need to pay comes up to about PHP 2,500.00 which is not bad since I used to pay the same amount to Fitness First.
What really made the deal for me is the very flexible payment scheme:

10% downpayment (I can move in already after paying this)

10% spread over 12 months (considering I can already move in, this is like paying rent)

80% can be thru in-house financing or thru a bank loan

The payment scheme above made it possible for me to purchase a unit as normally, developers require 20% downpayment and I don't have that much cash in the bank.
If you would like to have a similar deal, I can refer you to the realtor who handled the transaction for me. They're a nice team of husband and wife. They're trust worthy and attentive. They don't do hard selling tactics and will allow you to think about your purchase and decide when you're really ready. You can email me your contact info at condoliving-ph@henyo.com and I will have them contact you.