UP Naming Mahal

Lunch at Chocolate Kiss, Bahay ng Alumni, UP Diliman

After getting my diploma and copies of my transcript from UP, I've visited UP exactly three times. One visit was when I gave a talk for Financial Analysts at my old college, another was during our high school reunion and another time was when my good friend PZ celebrated her birthday by inviting us to a Sunken Garden picnic!

Today, E and I spent most of the day in UP. Right after my class at 12nn, I rushed to UP where E has been biking since early morning. We decided to have lunch first at Chocolate Kiss at the Bahay ng Alumni. At almost 1PM, the place was full and we had to wait in line for a while. We had Chicken ala Kiev, Hainanese Chicken Rice and Eggplant Parmigiana, and they were all good, and reasonable at P600 for everything!

After walking for a few minutes, we biked around the Academic Oval. It was great! For those who have biked there, following the one way traffic around the oval, you'll know that the side of AS aka Palma Hall is an "uphill" ride and the side of the College of Engineering is "downhill". I thought I was doing well with my biking in the village, but I still had a hard time in the "uphill" side. That only means we have to bike there more often! Everyone is welcome to join us!

Happiness is...

My dear friend PZ just got back from the US and was so kind to bring home several bottles of one of my most favorite things which I asked our dear friend DL to buy for me on sale: Bath and Body Works and Body Shop Home Fragrance Oils!

PZ also brought home the "elusive" cruet (see entries on this here and here) for E. Again, DL was so kind to order this online for us and have it delivered to her. Below is the cruet, with the olive oil section only half-filled because that was all the olive oil we had:-)

Our new dining table centerpiece

To my dear friends PZ and DL, thank you so much for making this possible for us, you guys really made our week!!!

Drill Sergeant

After work today, E and I went biking around the village until it was too dark to bike. E picked up speed today, and I had no choice but to follow. Talk about pushing myself to the limit. When we got home, I thought I was going straight into the shower when he said, "Oh no, not so fast, why don't you play 6 games of Tennis on the Wii, sayang naman ang workout outfit mo..."

Oh yes, we finally got our own Wii...

Pasalubong from Hongkong

E arrived tonight from Hongkong and surprised me with:
1. Two black tops from Marks and Spencer
2. Ikea tea light candles
3. Ikea colored napkins in blue and yellow-green

How thoughtful, noh? Thanks E, sige na nga, I don't feel bad na that I wasn't able to go to Hongkong with you. :-)

Me Time

I have today all to myself. After my 9-12 class, I went to the Corinthian Hills Clubhouse intending to buy groceries at Rustan's Fresh. When I got there, I decided to have lunch at UCC Coffee Shop. They now have Filipino meals and I had their Beef Tapa Meal (P259 with egg cooked the way you like it fried rice and coffee). I went to Santi's Deli next to buy my dinner for tonight. I decided on Salami Milano (P105 /100gms), Salami Tre Torri (P123/100grms), two kinds of cheese: Roquefort Marival (P218/100gms) and Fourme D'Ambert(P178/100gms). I also bought Turkey Pate (P79). With crackers or bread, these would last us 3-4 meals. Then I went to the grocery for other household items.

I really wanted to sleep the whole afternoon because I slept so late cramming my lecture. But when I got home, I started to watch "What About Brian" episodes and couldn't stop. I've already watched three episodes straight. I would most probably watch the rest of Season Two after this break. It's raining, I hope there won't be a brownout tonight!

E, uwi ka na, I miss you!

I'm an Addict

Why can't we have Bath and Body Works stores here in Manila???

I Miss Hongkong

Harbour City, Hongkong, January 2006

E will be leaving for Hongkong tomorrow on business and will be back Sunday. Another weekend alone! I really really wanted to go with him, haven't been to Hongkong since July 2006. E and I love Hongkong, the lifestyle, food, fashion, (window)shopping and everything about it. Each visit had been really special. And I have dear friends that I want to visit there. But... E and I are saving up for something really special, so I decided to miss this chance to visit Hongkong again. Maybe next year...

Meanwhile, I only have "What About Brian" ( do any of you watch this?) to look forward to the next few nights. And I'll also see if there are new episodes of Brothers and Sisters, Ugly Betty, Gossip Girl and Grey's Anatomy available on DVD.

Surprise Pepper Lunch Dinner Date

E and I have been trying to make time to finally dine at Pepper Lunch (Powerplant Mall, Rockwell), but with our hectic schedules we have not been able to go. This afternoon, I got a call from E and he said, "Hey, want to have dinner at Pepper Lunch?". Of course I said yes, even if it is a bit out of the way between the office and our home. At 6PM on a week night, there were no long lines and we had one section all to ourselves. We ordered the Shimofuri Pepper Steak (P570, P645 with rice and drink) and enjoyed "cooking" and finally savoring the steak. It was as delicious as how we remembered it. Oh, and we saw the celebrity couple-owners of Pepper Lunch, but I was too shy to have a picture taken with them:-)

Happy Father's Day,Dad!

Lunch at GloriamarisCoffee and dessert birthday and promotion treat of my sis-in-law S at Figaro

For Father's Day, Dad's special request was a Chinese meal. We decided on Shangri-la Plaza this time and thought of Gloriamaris. The food was great, we had coldcuts, wintermelon soup, steamed lapu-lapu, pata tim, pork asado, hot prawn salad (my favorite), vegetables in oyster sauce, birthday noodles, stuffed tofu, machang and yang chow fried rice; and the prices very reasonable (about P700 per person including taxes but with so much take home that the cost really comes down to about P500 per person). However, the place did not have adequate airconditioning. It was too hot even if they already had several electric fans running, it was not very comfortable, and thus almost ruined the dining experience. Try to stay out of this place during lunch time.

We had dessert of sansrival and blueberry cheesecake, and coffee at Figaro after for sis-in-law's treat.

One Lazy Sunday Afternoon

I've almost forgotten how it feels like to bike, after more than 15 years of not riding one (well except the exercise bike at Fitness First). After a shaky start, I got into the groove and went biking with E in our village. I plan to do this at least thrice a week, hopefully somewhere else besides our village. Can't wait until our UP Diliman bike date with dear friends SC and PZ with their husbands.

Long Weekend in Subic

E and I have found our favorite local destination...Subic! Now just 1.5 hours away from Manila, it's so easy to go and escape. This long weekend was spent with E's family, and we had a great time! Except for a take home meal of Reyes Barbecue on our first day and a KFC lunch on the way to Manila, all meals during the weekend were cooked in the "vacation house". We had grilled liempo, fish and eggplant on our first night and steak (bought from Meat Plus Cafe at around P150 per 100gms for the NY striploin) with corn and vegetable salad on the second night. We also had longganisa and corned beef for the other meals. The kids went on the Zoobic Safari and saw the tigers and also went swimming. The adults were just happy to laze around the house. Everyone enjoyed duty-free shopping, and I got my mint chocolate supply for the next few weeks, plus a few bags of chips:-)

Barkada Grand Reunion- Part 1

My barkada had a grand time at the dinner for DW and family at Choi Garden. It was great to see DW's family and the rest of the "Manila girls" and families. We missed JV though, who couldn't make it as it was her birthday, and it turns out her officemates planned something at her place. Choi Garden is definitely good food and good service. Their cold cuts, peking duck, steamed fish, salted fish rice, birthday noodles, shrimp balls, and salt and garlic squid were to die for. And I loved the interior, which was mostly in red, and the chandeliers were so grand! We had a great time catching up and eating. And the kids enjoyed themselves, too.

Thanks to DW, we received loot bags at the end of the night. A pound of Hershey's Kisses with toffee-flavored crunch( yummy! E and I can't stop eating), and anti-bacterial waterless hand foam, hand lotion and hand soap from my favorite brand Bath and Body Works. And as luck would have it, I got Warm Vanilla Sugar, which is my most favorite scent. Thank you very much DW, and we know how hard it was to lug your baggages especially with three kids and your unfortunate delay in Las Vegas. We really, really appreciate your pasalubongs!!!

Am so looking forward to the next get-together. See you soon DL and RW!

Looking Forward to the Weekend!

Yup, it's only Tuesday and I'm already thinking about the weekend:-) Well, there are several reasons why this is so:
- My college barkada will be having a get-together on Friday evening to welcome our friend DW who is based in the US and now home for a visit. It's also the birthday of one of ours, our dear friend JV. Two reasons to celebrate! We're trying out this new restaurant, Choi Garden which we have heard raves about.
-It's my first day of teaching for the new school term on Saturday! My class starts at 9AM and ends at 12NN. This will be every Saturday until the 1st week of September.
- E and I are spending the long weekend with his family in Subic! We leave Manila right after my class. First on my To Do List is to buy my stock of mint chocolates:-)

Biking

E and I are excited about our new "reinventing dates" plan. We plan to spend weekends biking -- and it could be somewhere as near as just within our village, or somewhere scenic like the Fort or UP, or as far as Subic (of course I mean that we will bring our bikes to Subic, and not bike to Subic!).

Biking really reminds me of grade school, when all my friends and I did on weekends was to bike as far as we could! And I also remember Finland where I spent a month as a Junior Counselor when I was 17 in an international summer camp for 11-year old kids. As a JC, part of my job required running errands for the camp, like go to the grocery, post office (no emails then!) and almost everywhere around the small town where we lived. And I had to do the errands on a bike that was so high, I had to literally find something to step on when I get on and off the bike.