Birthday at Amici

My sister-in-law S chose Amici to celebrate my favorite brother's 35th birthday. It was the perfect place for a family-gathering of our family and my sister-in-law's family. My brother would also have some historical ties with Amici, which was originally owned and managed by the Brothers of Don Bosco. Don Bosco is where my brother graduated high school. We went to the original branch in Don Bosco.

The food was heavenly, loved their Spaghetti Carbonara and Spaghetti Red Vongole. Prices are reasonable at about P150-P175 for a generous serving of pasta. Oops, failed to look at the prices of pizza (since my brother and sister-in-law were paying, hehe)

My brother and his beautiful family

The two families become one big happy family

"Baby S! That's Daddy's birthday cake!"

Sansrival and gelato for dessert (mint, strawberry and espresso gelato)

The C Family

The L Family

School Bags

I'm a certified bag addict, but now that I teach in addition to working full-time, my choices are limited to huge bags that would accommodate, among others: a calculator, a small notebook, 2 books, 2 ballpens (one black and one red), bulldog clips, white board markers, stapler (!!!) a toiletry bag, a folder that would contain paperwork, eyeglasses, shades...

Yesterday in class, I had to bring two bags:

Midterms, Term 17

So far so good. I'm so glad and relieved that all my students improved their performance significantly in the midterm exam. It is such a wonderful feeling for teachers to see their students trying their best. It means that they value what they are learning from your classes. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to do this.

Dining in Hong Kong

On the family's recent trip to Hong Kong, the family had fun exploring the different dining options. I just realized that all the family pictures are in restaurants:-)

First on the list is the Windows Cafe at the Kowloon Hotel, which has a fabulous breakfast buffet:

We also discovered this little restaurant, aptly named Delicious Kitchen in Causeway which serves the best porkchops. They also had a delicious fried chicken which Baby S loved.

Times Square in Causeway Bay had 2 floors dedicated to specialty restaurants. The family voted on Korean this time, thus Arirang Korean Restaurant:

For very good and reasonably priced Chinese food, Crystal Jade Restaurant in Ocean Terminal seems to be a favorite of locals as well as tourists, we waited one hour before we got our table. You have to try their Xiao Long Bao and the prawns cooked in salted egg:

For fast, but unique dining experiences, City Super at the Ocean Terminal (photo below) and Food Republic at the Citygate Outlet Mall were good choices. They're Hong Kong's more expensive version of foodcourts.

Family Lunch at Hanakazu

We decided to have Sunday lunch at Hanakazu. Of course we had to have the Hamachi (P690 per order of around 8 big slices), Salmon, Tuna and Uni Sashimi. Hanakazu definitely serves the freshest sashimi. We also had the Beef Sukiyaki, which definitely didn't disappoint. They use the most tender beef and the broth was flavorful. Hanakazu is owned by the former chef of Tsukiji. Thanks for the treat, Dad!!!

Welcome Dinner at Mr Choi Kitchen

Our dear friends from New York DL and husband RL are in town for a short vacation, and so we organized a welcome dinner for them. Because DL wanted to see Saizen, the Japanese store selling almost anything under the sun, we decided to meet in Robinson's Galleria. We chose one of our favorite restaurants, Mr Choi Kitchen, which serves Chinese food. We had dessert at TGIF because it was the only place that serves both dessert (what the girls wanted) and beer (what the boys wanted).

Turning Japanese

Dinner at Kai with friends from California SU and MH

I love Japanese food, and could eat it almost everyday. Just to prove my point, I ate at three different Japanese restaurants in one week.

1. Teriyaki Boy with my sister-in-law's family at The Promenade, Greenhills. I had my favorite Tempura Tuna Sashimi, and we ordered the usual Ebi Tempura, California Maki and Beef Sukiyaki.

2. Kai at Greenbelt 5 with my good friend from grade school MH who is visiting from California with her best friend SU. I have a new favorite Japanese place if I want to splurge. We loved the place. It's located at the ground floor of Greenbelt 5 facing the Greenbelt Park. There is an option for al fresco dining, which certainly looked beautiful, but it was just too hot. When MH brought E and me to a Japanese restaurant in Victoria Gardens, Rancho Cucamonga, I promised her that I will let her try Manila's version of the California Roll. I learned from a friend based in Hong Kong but who grew up in California that the authentic California Roll does not contain yellow mangoes but instead have avocadoes. We ordered three kinds of rolls (each order containing 8 pieces): Manila's version of the California Rolls, Soft Shell Crab Rolls and Fried Tofu Rolls. We also ordered Ebi Tempura, Lobster Tempura and Unagi as main courses. Everything was perfect, loved the service as well. For the quality of the food, good ambiance and service, not bad at about P750 per person including drinks.

3. Hanakazu in BF Paranaque for my sister's birthday. One of the best Japanese restaurants in Manila. Had the best Salmon and Hamachi sashimi that I've tasted so far. We also had Japanese staples of Ebi Tempura and Beef Sukiyaki. Excellent service by the way.

My Hong Kong

I am by no means an expert of Hong Kong, but I do love the place and would like to share some of my favorite places. This is for my dear friend SC who will be going to Hong Kong soon.

1. Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, where the Giordano and Bossini outlet stores are located. Also nearby is an Esprit outlet store.

2. Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui for the big H&M store across the Marco Polo Hotel. At the Ocean Terminal, Chanel, Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Tod's and Louis Vuitton. Loved shopping at H&M because surprise surprise, they have the size XL which fits me, and loved window shopping at the other stores. Chanel sales associates are the best, very helpful and accommodating even if it was so obvious that I was just an uzi. Louis Vuitton sales associates are the worst. Not sure if this is true for all LV branches in Hong Kong or just this branch.

Also at the Ocean Terminal are City Super for food items, Fortress for electronics and Muji, a Japanese store containing almost everything -- clothes, things for the home, linen and food items.

3. Citygate Outlet Mall in Tung Chung. My favorite stores are Puma, Nike, Esprit, Samsonite and Polo Ralph Lauren. Outlets of Kate Spade, Burberry and Bally can also be found there as well as Fortress for electronics.

4. Festival Walk at Kowloon Tong where Uniqlo and H&M are my favorites. Check out the sleepwear in Uniqlo, they're so cute.

5. World Trade Center in Causeway Bay beside the Excelsior Hotel where Uniqlo and Muji can be found.

6. IFC Mall where there is a Lane Crawford and Zara. I loved their rooftop which was like a park with comfortable lounging chairs and tables where one can just bring food to eat, relax with friends and family or just rest from all the shopping. The view is also amazing.

Hope you found this helpful. Please feel free to add to the list!

First Day of School

My favorite niece and baby of our family just started school. How time flies! At 2 1/2, she seemed the perfect student already:

Reading on her own!
Painting :-)

Break-time, with her favorite snack, Pop Tarts!

She likes being "teacher's pet"

Now I know why my brother chose this school --- there are football lessons!

Glad you enjoyed school, Baby S!

(Photos courtesy of my favorite brother and dad of Baby S, N)

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

Our dear friend JV recently celebrated her birthday and we were so fortunate to be part of her celebration. JV and husband DV invited us to DV's sister's lovely vacation home in Canyon Woods for a weekend. It was a glorious weekend of good (and abundant) food and very good friends. Thanks JV and DV for inviting us. It was indeed a memorable weekend. Happy Birthday again, JV, and we wish you lots of happiness always!

Birthday girl JV and husband DV

The gang enjoying the food and drinks...
...and lovely live music (DV's surprise for JV, how sweet!)

Me and the birthday girl, at breakfast the next day

At the terrace with the beautiful view

The facade of the house

...and the view from the back

Term 17

My 17th Term of teaching just started. I look at every new term as an opportunity to find new ways to make everything much more interesting, and much less boring. Any advice?

Weekend in Subic

It was my annual privilege of using the Company staffhouse in Subic and so my family trooped to Subic. It was raining throughout the weekend so it was mostly shopping at Royal Subic, and eating and sleeping in the house.

We got to visit one of the newest resorts, Segara Villas (Waterfront Road, Subic Bay, Tel. No. +63472528632). It was a beautiful place. It had a number of villas surrounding an infinity pool, and they had gazebos around the place with lounge chairs.

The main lobby of Segara Villas:

Lunch at Asian Spices which serves Filipino, Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian food:

The villas around the infinity pool:

One of the gazebos:

On our way home the next day, we stopped by Pancake House for lunch.

It was a truly relaxing weekend! Weekends in Subic are the best.

Singapore on Business

The opportunity of a lifetime came for me when my Company sent me to Singapore for business. Despite the hectic schedule, I got to stay at The Fullerton Hotel. The hotel overlooks the Singapore River and was the former General Post Office Building. I totally loved the place, everything was very luxurious. The Lobby was so grand. The rooms were huge, yet cozy and comfortable. I love the bathroom too, the shower most especially. They also had complimentary bottled water, tea and coffee.

Had the chance to have a Chinese fusion dinner at one of the hotel's restaurants, The Jade.

Took a stroll down the newly opened One Fullerton at the harbourfront, accessible from the hotel's basement.

It was a short and sweet stay in Singapore, I almost forgot that I was there for work. Good thing I remembered to take a picture of our meeting room:

While waiting for meetings to start... my proof that I was there for work!