Presenting ... the crispy pork belly!

I admit I am NOT a pork eater. From 1995 to 2001, we were based in Dubai and I reckon that is when I 'removed' pork from my diet regimen. It was more for health reasons than anything else. 

On the other hand, my sister simply loves pork! She consumes it a lot. When we are in HK, she takes the liberty to order whenever we dine outside. A staple dish in most, if not all of our sorties is the very delicious yet sinful crispy pork belly.

This delicacy consists of deep fried pork belly cubes/squares with a very thin and crispy layer of skin and tender meat.

It usually comes with a mustard condiment. This gives it a sort of bitter, tangy taste but I personally prefer to eat it on its own.

The way the pork belly is cut gives it an equal amount of fat and meat. Believe it or not, it isn't oily at all.  I guess they have a special technique of cooking it.

I've grown to love eating the crispy pork belly but no longer on a daily or every other day basis because I value my health. But, surely now I have something to look forward to on our next visit.

5 KILOS!

Over a week ago we landed in Manila around 9 PM and mind you ... it took us longer to get home than the actual flight. Gosh, The flight time was 1 hour and 45 minutes and we even landed ahead of our estimated time of arrival by 5 minutes. Then traffic was terrible even for a Saturday evening so 2 and a half hours later, we stepped into our house,  really tired and hungry. 

I stayed at my parents for one week 'decompressing'. You know the way astronauts who return to Earth do after they spend days on end in the vast outer space. I was tired, fat (I gained 5 kilos just from this two weeks trip!) and quite lazy to do anything. I slept most of the week away just getting out of my room to have meals then cozy up back in bed, reading or watching films on my laptop. I wasn't sick or anything ... I felt fine physically but mentally I was zapped. I can't really explain it.

But the biggest surprise and I guess quite embarrassing to admit is that my elderly parents were and still are perky, hyper and energetic! I really admire their stamina and their endurance level is quite amazing. I am in awe!

We had a lot of fun ... it was mostly a food trip. We didn't visit any tourist attractions. It was all about dining out, tasting different cuisines. Most of the restaurants we visited are the places which my sister who lives alone wanted to try. She even made a (long) list of all these restaurants she wanted to eat in. It was really a gastronomic feast as she would order all those delicious dishes which were very flavorful and such a delight to experience. I had a great time!

So now I'm back home with the hubby. The place is still standing as expected but it does need a feminine touch so I should stop being lazy and just do it. But first on the agenda tomorrow morning is to walk away the pounds and resume my exercise regimen. These extra 5 kilos need to disappear .... ASAP! They aren't welcome anymore! :D