Alyanna's Aloha Haven


I was at a birthday party for a seven year old girl last Saturday afternoon. The theme was "Hawaiian". Kids were told to bring their bathing suits and everyone to come bringing their widest & sunniest smiles.


Alyanna Sophia Felix or Yanna as we all fondly call her, is Shirley & Abner's daughter. I first met her when she was 4 years old. Since then, she has blossomed into a smart and pretty young lady, started school and has a bright future ahead of her.

Our Hawaiian equivalent names that day: Serene = Kelena & Adrian = Akiliano.

Kids had their faces painted, played games on the family's outdoor deck decorated with Hawaiian decor & trimmings.


Martina getting her face painted by Ivy


The little ones played passing parcel, the Yannaaaaa... sound dragging contest, answered questions about the birthday girl,


and were entertained by Yanna's magic trick. Tita Tuesday was the hard-working MC.



And then, chow-time (favorite part for the grown-ups).



There's macaroni salad, mixed fruits dessert, cut fresh fruits, spaghetti, baked penne (pasta), vegetable spring roll (lumpia), Shanghai lumpia, fried chicken, fried vermicelli (pansit bihon) and some other unique Filipino dishes like...


Lechon or roast pork - looks scary but really tastes GOOD!

N.B. The best thing about the lechon is that after several days of re-heating in the oven, the meat is still tender and juicy. Spread some sweet gravy (the condiment) and you're good to go. The skin is extra crispy. There must be a special way of preparing & roasting the pig to produce such "juicy" results. I've yet to find out...



Embotido - home made sausage



Menudo - stew dish of diced pork, potatoes & peas


Yes, we had a lot of pork dishes . It was baboy-overdose day...still, we ate it anyway :)

And to top it off, Shirley's specialty desserts - leche flan (similar to cream caramel custard) & cassava cake (similar to the Malaysian kuih bandung).

There was so much food left untouched at the end of the day, everyone had a doggie bag or two to bring home. Needless to say, we too, had left-overs for lunch and dinner over the weekend.