Dad's Treat at Fely J's

Some of the food we had: lamb kaldereta, paco salad and rice similar to arroz ala cubana ( i forgot what it's called)
My two-year old niece eating by herself. She's so independent!

Dad shared his blessings with us by treating us for lunch at Fely J's Kitchen in Greenbelt 5. We tried the exotic cricket appetizer, which was quite interesting. We also had sisig, crispy pata which was so good because it was cooked with garlic, lamb kaldereta, pork binangoongan, char kway teow and rice. My niece had the chocolate cake for dessert. Thanks Dad, for the wonderful meal. May you continue to receive countless blessings!

Happy Birthday, Dear Friends!

Our dear friends SC and LBF just had their "Big _0th Birthday" and we celebrated with a dinner at JV's condo. SC and LBF prepared a sumptuous buffet of smoked salmon salad, spaghetti carbonara, chicken pastel and salpicao from Conti's, home-made breaded fish and shrimp, and barbecue. MS brought the birthday cakes, blueberry cheesecake and chocolate cake, and other desserts such as pichi-pichi (with cheese, yum) and sapin-sapin. Our dear friend DL and husband RL, who are based in New York, joined us through Skype:)

Coming Soon

Due to problems with my Globe internet connection at home, I am unable to post pictures on Blogger. I have the following lined up:
1.Mini concert of my BIL in Ilustrado
2.Birthday celebration of two of my college barkada
3.Treat of my Dad at Fely J's in Greenbelt 5
4.Dinner with my office friends at The Heat, Edsa Shangri-la
So stay tuned for these entries!

It's Official: I Hate Globe!

Being a Globe subscriber is really a test of patience. I wish I can easily change service providers. Internet service has dropped a dozen times tonight, I can't even complete messages for my Facebook contacts and upload photos to Blogger. It's a good thing I'm not a student with a deadline tomorrow, or I would have really lost it!!!

Macau City Center

Although we stayed in Macau for 6 days, we only had a few hours to see the city center. We went to the Senado Square. We found it very quaint and pretty. We bought most of our "pasalubong" of Macau delicacies here. We also went around to look at the stores. Surrounding the area were several shops selling factory overruns of clothing. Also, most brands found in Hongkong were there, like Giordano and Bossini.

My Venetian (Macau) Holiday

Technically, I was in Macau for official business. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the city, and especially the Venetian. No doubt, it is Macau's greatest attraction. The Venetian was so grand, and so big, we got lost often on our first two days.

Cocktails by the Lagoon
The Food Court. Note the blue sky above, which is artificial.

Photos were not allowed in the casino itself, so we tried taking photos from the floor aboveThe Venetian Hotel Lobby

By the indoor canals where one can take a gondola ride. The gondolier in the background is a Filipina who had an astounding voice. If you watched Mel and Joey's feature on Macau, she was the lady gondolier interviewed by Joey. The Shopping Mall itself was so big, we didn't get the chance to visit all the stores.

We got to watch the spectacular Zaia of Cirque du Soleil

The Venetian Macau

I thought that our suite at the Venetian deserves an entry of its own. This was our home for one week and we absolutely loved it. Note the two queen-sized beds, plus a den with a sofa bed. This room could easily fit 6 people...

I "Heart" Hongkong

Hongkong is on top of my most loved places. Good friends to see, fabulous shopping and there's always something new to discover. On our way to Macau, my designated room mate and travel partner for this trip AF and I decided to make a quick stop-over in Hongkong.

We stayed with AF's good friend ES on Lantau Island. Her apartment had this fabulous view!


After a hearty buffet lunch at Citygate Novotel's coffee shop, which was ES's treat by the way (Thanks, ES!), we went straight to Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong specifically for H&M and Uniqlo. This is the first time I've seen these brands and I loved them.

Festival Walk

After Festival Walk, we went to Tsim Sha Tsui. AF and I, being both bag lovers, had a great time at LV, Gucci, Tod's and Burberry. I'm just amazed at the crowds in LV and Gucci, it was like a midnight sale in SM, I am not kidding. Nope, we didn't buy anything, but had such a great time looking!

We had dinner with good friend RW at OVOlogue (66 Johnston Road, Wanchai, Tel. No. +852-25276088). The place was amazingly beautiful. It was in a 120 year old building and also serves as an art gallery/design showroom. And we had good food as well. We had the dimsum platter, steamed garoupa, beef, fried chicken and steamed vegetables with garlic. Thanks for the delicious treat, RW! We had such a great time with you.

Good friend RW and travel partner AF at OVOlogue

Me and RW

On our last day, AF and I spent a few hours at Citygate Outlet Mall (located directly above Tung Chung station, an MTR ride away from Central), which was just adjacent to ES' apartment. All Hongkong shoppers should visit this place first before going to other Malls. It has the outlet shops of Polo Ralph Lauren, Kate Spade, Bally, Burberry, Giordano, Esprit, Nike, Adidas and a hundred more stores.

Citygate Outlet Mall

Before we knew it, it was time to go to the ferry terminal to catch our ferry to Macau:-(

19 lbs. and 4 inches

Yup, that's how much I lost so far. Today was the final weigh-in for the Biggest Loser Competition. I'm still 6 lbs. short of my personal goal, but I'm very very happy with what I've achieved so far. Considering 2 overseas trips in countries known for good food, this was indeed a true test of willpower. Thanks so much for all your support! By the way, sharing with you a picture taken by a colleague of mine during our Macau conference.