Noche Buena extravaganza

Here's basically what we had on the menu last Christmas Eve. My sister cooked: everything. The others that she didn't make, were either store-bought or a present from our neighbors. Can you guess which dishes Gladys dished out?


This is what my sister called the Pinoy Bouillabaise. Tama ba ang spelling ko? I'd rather spell ham instead. Wait, I just did! Hehehe.


The ever-present quezo de bola. The one on the right is basically porkloin with mushroom and gravy.


My dad lined up at the Excelente store at 6:30 in the morning to get this ham.

My mom loved chestnuts even though siya na lang ang kumakain nito. The cute native container naman we got at Tiendesitas. I just placed the Bulacan sweets inside so it would look nice in the picture. Hehehe.

This menudo is very very very red. Can you guess why? This picture of the puto looks funny, di ba?

Ay, I forgot pala to take pictures of the macaroni salad and the potato salad.

C.O.D. sa Ciudad Grande

Belated Merry Christmas, my dear readers (yes, kayong apat yun)!!! Ngayon lang ako ulit nakapag-blog since I didn't feel well after Christmas day. Anyway, here's how the facade of our house looks this year. Halos pareho last year. Although the huge Santa Claus is new. And the Christmas lights are now the safer, energy-saving LCD lights. Medyo may kamahalan nga lang ang mga lights na yan.

3 days to go

Here's the view from our terrace right before the bells of the village chapel

start ringing for the simbang gabi.

and the countdown begins

4 days to go....

highschool family

Annual tradition naming highschool barkada to hold our Christmas reunion at my house. Strategic location kasi eh, since Aileen and family live in Paranaque, while Janicelle and family live in San Mateo. Last December 16, we had fun watching the kids play while us adults (okay fine, me pretending to be one) chatted up a storm. Daddy Thirdy watched over his kids running around the playground while Daddy Alvin spent the whole afternoon playing paparazzi sa kanyang mag-ina.

what a x'mas promo!

It was quite a walk from Market!Market! to Bonifacio High Street last Friday. Gutom na gutom na kami! Buti na lang we saw this long line of people entering Brothers Burger. Turned out the place was having a 1-day promo! Sulit na sulit ang promong ito sa amin that day!

perfect tambayan

Hanging out at the 5-storey bookstore on Bonifacio High Street is my free time well-spent. Took this shot from the second floor while my sister was checking out cookbooks.

a night with "Caroline", "Cristina" and "Chona"

Gladys a.k.a. "Caroline" treated us to an Oyster Boy dinner at Metrowalk tonight. Sarap ng food! Hindi nga lang kami nag-order ng talaba. Hehehe. I loved the interior design of the restaurant. Julie a.k.a. "Chona", loved the interior design of the comfort room.

After dinner, nagpunta kami ng Tiendesitas for a bit of Christmas shopping. Chet a.k.a. "Cristina" was practically falling asleep while shopping kaya we had to rush her to the nearest coffeeshop for a much needed caffeine shot. Hehehe. Doon na rin kami nag-exchange ng mga gifts.

sosy place

Spent last Friday afternoon at The Fort. Passed by the row of posh restaurants at Serendra. Still haven't tried out any of the dining places though. Para kasing kulang ang P5,000 for one full meal. Hehehe. Kaya nagkodakan na lang muna kami (me, Mom, Gladys, Auntie Lea and 6-year old Lance).

Spice Girl?

We celebrated my sister's birthday at Penang Hill - Shangrila Mall. Gladys originally wanted to have dinner at the Spanish restaurant at the mall, pero Crustacea na pala siya ngayon. First time namin kumain sa Penang Hill, so we didn't know spicy ang karamihan ng food. Being the only one in the family who loves anything spicy, ako lang ang kumain ng maanghang (hindi ko rin naubos). My dad loved the veggie lumpia though.

best bibingka ever

Bought bibingka from Via Mare after having dinner at Penang Hill. Via Mare has absolutely the best bibingka in town. Its special ingredient? Quezo de bola (though you can't see it with all the niyog sprinkled on top). Yummy.

C.M. the dog loved the smell of the bibingka enough that he wiggled his tail, looked up at the table -- and wouldn't leave. My mom ended up feeding him almost half of the whole thing. Hehehe.

flowers for me

My folks went to Dangwa the other night to buy poinsettias for the village chapel. Asked my mom if she could buy me carnations -- kahit isang stem lang. Love them! Got a whole bunch instead! Thanks Dad!

Had dinner with my former officemates from Viva. Maraming hindi nakarating but it was okay. Met up at Won Ton in Promenade - Greenhills. Super catching up while enjoying cheap -- yet yummy -- Chinese food.

After dinner, we went to Bizu for dessert. As always, I couldn't resist taking pictures of the cakes before gobbling them up (I didn't eat them all by myself though!).

I love love love Bizu. Wish there was a branch near our house.

I was actually taking pictures of the gigantic stars on display but these people got in the way -- just kidding! Hehehe.

okay sa ocular

Soon-to-be-maid-of-honor Jhen asked for wedding and bridal shower venues recently so we decided to spend last December 5 to conduct ocular visits on possible venues in Tagaytay. Chiqui heard about our plans and hastily filed for a leave so she could join us. Sa sobrang excitement namin, we forgot to check kung may bagyo ba or uulan ba on that day. Kaya yun, exactong pagdating namin sa Tagaytay, dumilim na ang sky at umulan na. Low visibility pa kasi the fog from Taal Lake was all over Tagaytay ridge! Haaaay, buti na lang, game pa rin kami.

Bag of Beans
The first stop was Pink Sisters Convent para we could say a proper thank you to God that we survived our MA coursework. The next stop, Bag of Beans, was Chiqui's suggestion. I've read about this coffeeshop and I've seen its facade several times before. Pero now lang ako nakapasok. And I loved it! Cozy ambience. Reminds me a lot of Sonya's Garden. Great venue for a reception. Food (we ordered pancakes and omelette) was yummy too. Sarap ng kape! Siyempre, dito na nagsimula ang pictorial namin. Hehehe.








Calaruega
It was Jhen's first visit to the place so tamang-tamang i-tour siya for an ocular. It was really raining when we got there. The funny thing was, super daming tao! It turned out there was a school retreat and a wedding at that time. Papasok pa lang sa lobby ng lugar, mega-kodakan na kami. We couldn't resist the sprawling staircase to the retreat quarters. Ang ganda talaga kasi! Then we went to the gardens that led to the church up the hill. Lumalakas na ang ulan at hangin pero akyat pa rin kami. We got stranded for awhile inside the church dahil bumuhos na talaga ang ulan, plus yung hangin was the type na sisirain na talaga ang payong mo. So mega-pray na naman kami -- para tumigil ang ulan, para maging okay ang upcoming compre exam (and para ma-meet na rin si Mr. Right. Hehehe.)










Nurture Spa
Next in our itinerary was this famous spa. First time nila Jhen and Chiqui so the staff gave us a grand tour, and provided us with umbrellas siyempre. Jhen loved the place and the services kaya she decided right there and then that a spa package was a great wedding gift for her kuya and his fiancee. We weren't able to resist the place either so nagpa-head and upper body massage na rin kami while were there -- yun kasi ang pinakamurang service eh. Hehehe. Di bale, may libreng ginger tea naman. Hehehe.

Josephine's

2p.m. na nung matapos ang massage so naghanap agad kami ng makakainan. We had to pick one na may indoor dining area kasi umulan na naman. So we decided on Josephine's. Masarap naman ang food. It wasn't super expensive either. And the view was superb -- kahit na we could literally see and hear the oncoming fog and rain from the lake!





The Public Market

Chiqui wanted to buy barako coffee so we went to the market for some beans. Ang bango ng kape, grabe!

Mocha Blends

Coffee seemed to be the obvious theme of our Tagaytay trip. Nagpunta pa kasi kami sa Mocha Blends for meryenda before heading back to Manila. The branch in Tagaytay was owned by the family of my mom's friend, Tita Jenny. Her daughter Jacqueline was there kaya nagpa-picture na rin kami with her.

We left Tagaytay around 6:30 p.m. and got back to Manila around 8:30p.m. Super traffic pa sa lagay na yun ha! We didn't mind though kasi tawa lang kami ng tawa the entire ride home.

Potential wedding / bridal shower venues: Check!

Coffee galore: Check!

Stress-free day: Check!