Happy 12th Anniversary To Us!

Pasko Na Nga!

Starting yesterday, my days will be filled with Christmas parties and other social events. Yesterday, I had a Christmas lunch with DP, a good friend who is based in Hongkong and another friend GD, at Cafe Metro in Shangri-la Plaza and TWO Christmas parties in the evening. Today, the school had its party for the Faculty and Staff. Tomorrow is our department Christmas party. Saturday is the Christmas outreach of the company's senior executives and brunch after that , and a Christmas party hosted by E's friend BT in the afternoon. I'm hoping for an anniversary dinner with family, but we'll see how the schedule is like. On Sunday, Christmas lunch with my college barkada and Christmas dinner with E's barkada, both to be held in our home. On Monday is the Farewell party of our CFO of which I am the event coordinator. I still have so many things pending like songs to be used for the video presentation,songs to be sung by guest singers, the backdrop of the stage, finalizing the speakers, etc. The only thing I have done is the food arrangements. Tuesday is the Christmas party for senior executives, where I will be in the dance presentation. And lastly, on Wednesday, the 24th, the Christmas party in our office. Pasko na, and really, no time to shop. I can actually just give IOUs and say that their presents will be New Year presents from the US:)

Galileo Enoteca

Most of you know that E and I LOVE Galileo Enoteca. We decided to try the Pasong Tamo branch , and we had such a great time. We finished a bottle of white wine, 2 glasses each of red wine, a cheese and cold cuts platter, and another cheese platter.

When you feel like you need time alone with your partner, bring him/her to Galileo Pasong Tamo. It is such a romantic, quiet and cozy place.

A Birthday Party at Manila Oceanarium

The newest pamangkin of my college barkada, Stephen, celebrated his 2nd Birthday at the Manila Oceanarium. The proud parents JV and DV spared nothing to give him a memorable party. (Apologies for the blurred pictures, still figuring out how my Nokia E71 can take better pictures. I again, forgot my camera. Senior moments??)


Stephen with proud parents (sorry JV and DV, ang labo!)



At least Stephen's amazed face is captured in this photo, pero malabo pa rin!

Look at all the balloons! Wow!

The barkada except for JV, who was very busy...

Finally caught up with proud mom JV.

La Nuovo Pasteleria

Spinach and Mushroom Appetizer and Seafood Salad Seafood Pasta in Olive Oil and Garlic

La Nuovo's food never fails to impress us. We love the spinach and mushroom appetizer, although it may have been a bit sinful with that creamy truffle sauce. The seafood pasta was overflowing with prawns. Yummy! (Located in front of Sanctuario San Antonio, Forbes Park)

'Tis the Season...

I know that we are already in the middle of the Christmas season when my day started with a gift-giving activity for pre-schoolers at a Gawad Kalinga site in Trece Martires and ended with a classy party hosted by an international bank at the Manila Polo Club:) I'm really so fortunate to experience the best of both worlds.

15 Terms!... And Counting

Another school term has gone, my 15th! Let's see, that would be equivalent to 5 years of teaching. And yet, there's still so much to learn...

Classical Music at Ilustrado

Here's an idea for a unique evening. Cocktails with overflowing wine at Ilustrado's romantic courtyard (I still remember JV and DV's wedding reception held here more than 10 years ago) and then classical piano music by world-renowned pianist, my BIL Jovianney Emmanuel Cruz, at Ilustrado's chamber room. Jovianney introduced the mini-concert by saying that this was how it was done centuries ago, a group of people gather in homes to watch and listen to artists perform. There will be more evenings such as this, watch this space for further announcements.

Dinner with Office Friends at The Heat

The "Powerless" group went out for dinner at The Heat in Edsa Shangri-la Hotel. Sad to say, the Buffet was not as good as how we remember it, Seven Corners was definitely better. There were no oysters,smoked salmon and uni sashimi in the buffet that night. Good thing, the company was great, so we still had a super fun evening.

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