Touring Terraces

We've been frequenting the Terraces for the past few days until the last weekend. It's a nice venue to take my Manila-based parents to. They're impressed that there's something like Greenbelt or Glorietta in my Cebu home-base. Hehe... For city-dwellers like them, malling is a staple activity. Yep, I should know. :P



Here we are, enjoying Yellow Cab pizza and calzone a few hours after a filling lunch at Big Mao (both at Terraces)

Playing Catch Up (1) - Mama Sol's Birthday

The past weeks have been busy for me at the homefront with my youngest and me getting sick one after the other, like a tag-team of sorts. Then to add to that, we also had major movements and changes at work. Think, paperwork and tighter coordination among all groups.

To cut the chase, I'm posting pics of other events that happened in between. So this is part 1:



We got invited to Mama Sol's (aunt's) dinner party at the Marco Polo where we were served a fusion of Japanese, Italian, Chinese and native food. Yummm! However, the al fresco dinner was mildly rained on and prompted most of the guests to wear the table napkins on their heads ala "hat" party. Wehehe... I guess that was what caused me to get sick for a week. :P


When the mild drizzle stopped, the dances began. One of the dance numbers was from a belly-dancer, to the men's delight. As the music commenced, I threw side-glances at my teenage boys who seemed to enjoy the serpentine moves of the curvaceous dancer. Ah boys... My Papa Lalo (uncle) was regretful of the fact that he left his eyeglasses home! Haha! That was amusing and definitely good news for my Mama Sol!


Since it was a Tuesday, with work the following day (my sons were on school break), we left at about 930pm. That was when most of my uncle and aunt's contemporaries started boogie-ing and chacha-ing the night away...

Label Reader, I'm Starting To Become

I just received an email a few minutes ago which prompted me to blog. It mentioned about "made in China" stuff and how some products, though made in China, are not labeled as such (yikes!). Part of the email mentioned about checking the barcodes in order to tell where a product was manufactured. I'm no authority on this and it would be best if somebody out there could validate if true. Still, I'm listing it here for everybody's benefit:

The 1st 3-digits of a barcode:
00 - 09 >>> USA & CANADA
30 - 37 >>> FRANCE
40 - 44 >>> GERMANY
49 - >>> JAPAN
50 - >>> UK
690 - 692 >>> China

By the way, it's not just melamine that we're supposed to be looking out for. Other food additives found in processed foods we consume everyday are equally dangerous, if taken excessively: artificial coloring, high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, MSG, sodium benzoate, sodium nitrite, and trans fat. Hmm, that was a mouthful (pun intended)! Click here to find out the truth about 7 common food additives and why these shouldn't be part of our diet at all.

Kyle's 12th

It was a no-brainer birthday planning event that turned out really great. An afternoon of internet-gaming session with lots of pizza for snacks for Kyle's friends for the 2nd time (or is it 3rd?) is still the popular choice for us.

It was a good thing there was a newly opened internet cafe near our workplace. Reservation was a breeze as the people manning the outlet sees me often. They gave me a good price for 10 computers reserved for 3 hours. That should be enough, I thought.

On the day itself, it turned out we had to pay for at least 15 computers as Kyle's guests were more than we expected! LOL. They were all excited to the point that a few of Kyle's friends even arrived at the venue ahead of us. Haha. Judging from the looks on their faces, it was well worth it.

So, tip for today, for a hassle-free tweener birthday celeb, ditch the balloons, the loot bags, the pinata, and the birthday clowns. Or better yet, invite the birthday clowns for some gaming session instead.
---

Venue: eNGy Cafe and Da Vinci Pizza at Asiatown IT Park

Timeline: 31 hours in Manila

SATURDAY
8:00 AM flight to Manila

12:00 noon @ Recipes (Greenbelt)


2:00 PM @ Mocha Blends (Las Pinas)




4:00 PM @ Cafe Breton (Westgate, Alabang)


7:00 PM Dinner @ home
9:00 PM Coffee @ Starbucks, Madrigal (Ayala Alabang)

SUNDAY
8:00 AM breakfast
10:00 AM Skype video call between family in Manila and Junnie and Mitzi in Canada
12:00 noon lunch at home
3:00 PM (after 31 hours in Manila) flight back to Cebu.

Happy 70th Birthday Ma! :D

Cuz Mimi's Barney-themed party for daughter Marti

Cuz Mimi's Barney-themed party for daughter Marti, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Last Saturday was the advance birthday celeb for my niece and God-child Marti. JCA Pizza along Salinas Drive was made exclusive for the afternoon event. Her mom, my cousin Mimi, was initially frantic when Barney the mascot, was nowhere to be seen.

It turned out the mascot was just late. Perhaps they got stuck in traffic. Imagine a purple dinosaur on the road.... Hehehe...

Jake, amused at Barney...

Moooning

I didn't misspell the title of this entry. That's just playing with the name of this new place at the Walk. It's a Mexican fusion resto-bar named Mooon.

It's open (almost) 24/7. And on some Sunday afternoons, my family and I lug our macs, psp, gameboy, and the newspaper and spend time doing our own thing there while sipping Mooon's fruit cooler.

I like that it's near enough to my workplace that I could actually get wifi signals. Hehe... Perhaps on some days, this could be an extension office for when I need a change of scenery....

Well, just maybe...

Saturday in Makati

I used to work in SGV Consulting in Makati in late 1989 up to 1992. Spending most of my waking hours in that area from Monday to Friday familiarized me with the ins and outs of "old Makati". Why do I say old? Since moving to Cebu 16 years ago right after getting married, a lot in the place have changed. Every year that I got to visit Makati, a structure got renovated or torn down and replaced by another. It's sad that I didn't have photos of how the Makati I knew looked like.

Last Saturday, Jerry and I strolled down memory lane as we tried to recall the old places. I couldn't help looking for Gibson's where I usually took colorum mini-bus or jeepney rides to Las Pinas back in those days. Now, Jerry tells me it's already part of Park Square. I asked him where the Tia Maria Mexican bar/resto we used to frequent is located, and he tells me it's actually Max Brenner now. Larry's Bar, San Mig Pub, and Max's Fried Chicken, the resto where my parents and siblings once ate to celebrate a grade school graduation is now GB5! I couldn't help but shake my head... Haha! Ganun??? I'm feeling lost...and old! :D

Even the SGV Development Center along Perea and Dela Rosa Streets, where Jerry and I worked and met in 1989 is no longer there. In it's place is a high-rise condominium.

Change happens so fast it's dizzying...


With Pa, Ma, sis May, niece Zia (Pics taken at GB5 and Glorietta)

Liwaliw

View from Greenbelt 5 (GB5)

"Mall" agad ang pumasok sa isip ko sa temang liwaliw. Tamang-tama. Ang litratong aking lahok ay kuha ko habang ako ay nasa loob ng Greenbelt 5, sa parteng malapit sa bagong mamahaling boutique na Adora. :D

Nasa Manila kasi ako noong 080808 para sa opening/blessing ng aming opisina. Kaya noong sumunod na araw ng Sabado, inilibot ako at ang aking hubby ng aking mga magulang at mga kapatid sa bagong GB5.

Maganda... Kumain pa nga kami sa Travel Cafe kung saan unang natikman ng aking Ma, Pa at sis ang coffee alamid, ang isa sa pinakamahal na kape sa buong mundo. Sa Pilipinas lang yata ito nakikita. Sa umpisa nag-atubili akong subukan pero nang matikman na, masarap pala.

Kakaiba ang naging pagsubok ni Ma. Sa una, sarap na sarap siyang lagukin ang coffee alamid. Parang capuccino daw ang lasa. Pero di maipinta ang mukha ni mader nang malaman nyang galing pala ito sa dumi ng alamid. Nai-imagine kasi nya na pusa ang alamid kahit ito ay mas mukhang "mongoose". Hahaha.... Makikita dito >>> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4896230.stm ang karagdagang kaalaman tungkol sa pinagmulan ng sikat na coffee alamid.

Eto naman ang litrato naming mag-anak na kuha ni hubby habang nasa Travel Cafe.... bukod sa napakalaking halo-halo na di namin naubos, Coffee alamid ang hawak ni Pa sa kuha na ito.



Saan kaya nagliwaliw ang ibang sumali sa Litratong Pinoy? Puntahan natin...

Want Some?

The other night, I spotted Jake in the dining room busily doing something. I thought nothing of it at first since his nanny was next to him overseeing whatever he was busy with. And then I saw Jake cutting something with a pair of scissors.

ME: Jake? What are you cutting?

JAKE: I'm making spaghetti, Ma.

ME: Oh...

I worried a bit about 2 things: 1) He might cut himself accidentally and 2) He might be cutting real noodles and thus wasting food needlessly. So I got up from the couch to check that everything was ok. It turned out I had nothing to "fear". He was dexterously maneuvering the blunt scissors (sigh of relief) to cut through his play doh (double sigh of relief).

JAKE: Here Ma, have a taste...

The Walk

The Walk, originally uploaded by gratitude.

It took more than a year, if I remember right, for this small patch of food / entertainment space to open its doors to the public. Now it's a new destination for food-lovers who want a change of scenery. There's Figaro, Mooon, Pier One, Shakey's, McDonald's, La Marea, Casa Verde which are sure to satisfy anybody's craving.

During Junnie's short visit, we included it in his itinerary. Pics were taken after a filling fusion lunch at Mooon, one bright day in June...

Palm Sunday and Teambuilding @ Bravio

Today, we...

... attended the 7am mass at Redemptorist Church to take part in the Palm Sunday festivities.
... bought Jollibee breakfast treats for the boys.
... together with our 4yo and 14yo sons, spent the morning being with colleagues at work...to watch the Pacquiao-Marquez match at Bravio. It was intended to be a teambuilding / R&E sort of activity as the development / technical teams of our company have been toiling and spending long days (and nights) at work beating the deadline for our product release.
... were made proud (to be Pinoys) after seeing another victory from the Pacman.
... were made proud by Kyle's 3rd place victory (along with 2 friends from school) in the robotics competition. He is now guaranteed a grade of 100 in his computer class. Wee! Perhaps he might be interested to pursue a career in IT in the future.

Today, I...

... was amused to see Jake undistracted as he played with Lani's PSP for 2 hours (!) while everyone was busy having buffet brunch and waiting for the big boxing match.
... was screaming the loudest as I watched the exchange of punches.
... realized I could never get used to watching boxing.
... felt glad the activity we prepared at the spur of the moment was well-attended.

The day was spent differently in a good way. Care to share how your Sunday went?

Jake's 4th Birthday

March 11 was a weekday and we surprised Jake in school with treats for all his classmates and teachers. Regulation food was Jollibee's spaghetti and chicken combo meal. We prepared loot bags filled with goodies and stickers and small thingamagigs plus colored squiggly balloons to the delight of his friends. :D

While everyone was eating... I snuck behind Jake to give him a hug and a kiss. He was smiling at me, his joy was evident though he was mildly nursing a cough. "Are you happy Jake?", I asked trying to validate his reaction to all this. With bits of chicken sticking out of his mouth, he nodded and beamed a wide smile.

He then moved his face closer to mine... Aw he was going to kiss me back! Sweet thing...

"Ma, where's the cake?", he whispered.

Dang!

Dinner at Gustavian

In lieu of flowers and other fancy gifts... the hubs took me to a special dinner. :) (sorry to those who are jaded about the V day... hehehe, you may click the "x" button now).

It felt like we were royalty being attended to... Here's a sampling of what we enjoyed for 2 hours with flowing champagne, red and white wine. Once in a while (when budget permits :)), it's good to experience really fine dining.

For this red-letter day, that's just what we had, no less....

Next year na lang ulit... Ang mahal noh! Hehehe

---


Hope everybody (yes even the jaded) had a good one. :)

Pre-Valentine Night

After alighting from the car with Jerry, I was greeted by my sons with a kiss and an excited look on their faces....

Jake: Ma, come upstairs... I'll show you something!

Not wanting to let his excitement wane, I hurriedly ran up the steps after him. He was sooo excited that even as he fell and hurt his knee on the wooden steps, he still managed to say: "I'm okay!" and still kept running up.

The elder brothers were cooking up something for sure. Hence the excited little one.

When we reached our room, the mood light was on and on the bed lay a stem of red rosebud and a box of Toblerone.

Awww... Matt and Kyle went to Ayala Mall after school to buy me this? Sweet....

Jake: Open the chocolate, Ma. I wanna eat.
Me: But i thought this was for me...
Jake: Yes, so you're eating too!

Hahaha! Somehow I get the feeling that he was more excited about eating the chocolate than anything... :P



Jake and his kiss... with ulterior motives...

Street-food

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }
.flickr-yourcomment { }
.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }
.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

fishballs, originally uploaded by gratitude.

What's your fancy?

Photo was taken during the December fair at the boys' school. We felt kinda brave enough to try the ambulant vendor's tempura. Half-worried about risking an infection, we dared to eat the ubiquitous street-food.

Perhaps seeing how we enjoyed the fare, soon the other students and parents followed. :D Heh...

Christmas 2007

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }
.flickr-yourcomment { }
.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }
.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

Christmas 2007, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Just a few of the lovely photos we took during Christmas 2007. :) As usual it was mostly around the dinner table (Hola Espana, Krua Thai, Waterfront, Postrio, Starbucks, etc.) where family members shared food and stories and enjoyed each other's company. It sure was a perfect cap to a very blessed year. Here's praying and hoping for a more meaningful and blessed 2008 for everyone!

Gustavian

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }
.flickr-yourcomment { }
.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }
.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

Christmas tree @ Gustavian, originally uploaded by gratitude.

An early Christmas treat arrived in my inbox a few days ago. I received an email invite for some Christmas snacks sampling at the Gustavian for last Saturday.

Jerry and I went. The wide array of food items rendered us full right up to dinner. Hehe... some snacks huh!

Tried the following: turkey with jambalaya filling, pineapple ham, chicken liver pate, meat loaf, and some pastries. Eggnog and glogg were also served for free. It was my first time to actually taste these drinks.

Yummm!

We liked most of what we tasted but we particularly liked the pineapple ham and bought a few hundred grams. This should set the mood for Christmas. Look I even changed this blog's masthead and avatar to reflect the mood. :)

me and my eggnog, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Jerry, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Christmas food samplers, originally uploaded by gratitude.

the rack, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Gustavian, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Alegre Beach Resort

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }
.flickr-yourcomment { }
.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }
.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

Alegre Beach Resort, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Midway through the 4-day weekend/break, Jerry decided to take the family on a long drive to see the scenic north of Cebu island. The roads were surprisingly good and paved making it a smooth drive for our 2-month old Carens.

Shortly before lunch we were on our way, bringing with us bags of chips, bottles of water, soda and juice, and Jollibee chicken, burgers and fries. We had our pit stop at the Alegre Beach Resort, at Sogod town 70 kilometers or about an hour and a half drive from Cebu City.

It was our first time there and we were impressed by the sight. Next break we get, we'll definitely think of Alegre...

Our drive up north took us up to San Remigo town after Bogo. The white sand public beach was too inviting but we had to head back home to Ma. Luisa for a visit to A-ma. I wish we have another long break soon. It would be good to linger in one of the nice places we saw.

Alegre Beach Resort, originally uploaded by gratitude.

View from the deck... beach is at the background..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Kiddie amusement on the far right...., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Smelly Delicious!

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }
.flickr-yourcomment { }
.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }
.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

daing galore, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Since most of the business establishments were closed on Nov. 1, we thought of driving to Tabo-an in downtown Cebu to buy some "pasalubong" that Pa could take back to his employees...

If you are fond of dried anything (fish, squid, etc) and you're in Cebu, then this is the place to get a hold of the object of your cravings.

mounds and mounds of dried seafood...., originally uploaded by gratitude.

which one to get?...., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Don't be fooled by the confused look on Paparazzi's face. The place may be the most offensive smelling area in the market but Pa surely was in "danggit" heaven! He actually bought a few kilos of different kinds. I can only shake my head when I recall his 2002 quadruple heart bypass. Watch your diet Pa!

How come there are some things that taste good but smell bad? Do you have a particular favorite food like that?