Fandom!

Watching my brother perform in a Broadway production at school left me feeling quite nostalgic. I wasn't born a star and I have no talent in the performing arts whatsoever, but school wouldn't be school if it didn't force you to dance, sing or recite an awful poem on stage.

I felt proud while hearing my brother sing the way he did. He was easily the best singer among the lot. I swear, I'm not being biased just because he is my brother. He really, really was awesome up there!

As Javert in Les Miserables

As Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera

As President Roosevelt in Annie

I shall upload a video of his performance in YouTube one of these days, when I have reliable and fast internet access. I swear PLDT's myDSL has gone bonkers where I live.

I hope my brother gets a big break. One of my dreams is to watch a Broadway production in New York and I want my brother to be the star when that happens. For now, I'm content watching locally produced shows, which are actually quite a joy to watch. I'm not an artsy fartsy person, but I do love theater. All the elaborate gestures, creative stage designs and awesome singing voices thrill me like no other. If I were as rich as Bill Gates or Lucio Tan, I would probably eat out every day, watch plays and productions every Friday night, travel at least once a month and build myself an extensive library! Oh, joy, joy, joy!

Fun, Frivolous, Fabulous, Shallow and Short for 2011!

Ahoy! I'm back from a blogging hiatus! I wanted to start the year right with fun posts, but alas, my procrastinating tendencies got the best of me. I have such a long list of food establishments and spas to write about already and I'll be doing my best to catch up after I achieve a specific objective that I have set for this month.

So 2011 isn't quite like the bed of roses that I imagined it to be. Socio-political issues left and right, health troubles in the family, and well, a colony of personal problems that multiply faster than bacteria (geeky, I know). Things are not yet looking up for me, but I think I need a place where I can freely have fun, so I decided to keep this small part of my world light, frivolous and shallow!

From this time on, I would only be posting happy stuff that make life a fairy tale. I don't care if I appear naive and shallow anymore. After all, life is beautiful, just like these hot satchels I'm currently lemming for, but can't afford just yet:

You can have them personalized too! Source

I wish I can get my hands on one before our Singapore adventure come March, but gah, they are just so pricey! Now, I'm hoping there's a Summer Santa out there who can give me one for free! I still can't decide on the color though. Red is stunning, yellow is fun and brown is smart. I want them all!

To the very few who actually read this blog, watch out for more fun, frivolous, fabulous and SHORT (yes, I will TRY to make shorter posts that people might actually read) posts in the days to come! 

Now, say goodbye to the dark, boring, serious and twisted me! Let's keep it light this Rabbit Year, everyone!

December is the Month of Celebrations

... and good food and unplanned purchases and severe wallet damages! My, my, December was a whirlwind! I cannot even remember where all the days and the money went specifically, but surely, December is the uncontested winner in the fun and food departments this year.

Christmas Dinner with College Friends at National Sports Grill Plus Desserts at Classic Confections

I never really liked the food at National Sports Grill that much, but everywhere else was full that night. As a matter of fact, we went to Ayala Triangle Gardens first, but there was a huge crowd and a long line to every restaurant there, so we decided to drive to Greenbelt instead. The first choice was actually Chili's at Greenbelt 5, but again, the issue of long lines and starving, impatient people came up, so we just decided to eat at NSG (where only two tables were occupied).

It was my first time to eat at Classic Confections, and boy, did I love their Nono's Chocolate Oblivion (that's the one on the upper left)! It was  heavenly, I tell you.

Anniversary Dinner at Balducci, Serendra

My request for a three day leave was granted, but sadly, the boyfriend couldn't get off work (he's new to the company and everything) so our plan for an awesome anniversary and birthday double celebration didn't push through. We just had a pretty simple dinner at Balducci in Serendra, where the food and the service lie on completely opposite poles. While the food deserves stellar reviews (which I shall do in a future post), the same cannot be said about the service.

The BF's Birthday Dinner at Duo, Serendra

We celebrated his birthday with yet again a rather simple dinner at Serendra. I've been meaning to try Duo for quite some time already because their fondue came highly recommended by a friend, but we were already too stuffed come dessert time, so we sort of just decided to drop the idea of having fondue altogether. Sad, but I shall return for the fondue, I promise. Food reviews to follow, of course!

Christmas Shopping and Lunch with the BF at A Venetto

I actually did 80% of our Christmas shopping (we give couple gifts for practical reasons) by myself on different days of the month, whenever my schedule permits. By the time the boyfriend was able to join me, I was almost done shopping already and he was able to help me pick out a gift  only for a very few people. Since I did almost all of the work and he gets half of the credit, he treated me to lunch at A Venetto.

Christmas Party with Workmates at Paul Calvin's, Global City

Right after a tiring morning shift (even had to work overtime without pay), I went home, showered and dolled up for our Christmas party (which the hospital didn't sponsor, by the way). I was mighty tired by the time I got to Paul Calvin's, but my adrenaline didn't fail me. I had a lot of fun and I even won a consolation prize in the raffle draw! My workmates are the best!

Christmas Eve with the Family at Home

I wasn't scheduled to go on duty on the 24th, so I was able to spend Christmas eve at home. My sibs and I camwhored like crazy and opened our gifts to the tune of Grenade and Marry You by Bruno Mars. Major, major LSS!

Post Christmas Lunch at Gumbo and Early New Year Celebration at Ayala Triangle Gardens

We had to celebrate Christmas Eve with our own families, and I was on duty come Christmas day, so the BF and I had our Christmas meal a couple of days after the 25th. I cannot count the number of times I've eaten at Gumbo anymore. I've been there with my family, friends, boyfriend and the boyfriend's family. I guess it's one of my default restos of choice at Midtown.

Again, we had to celebrate the coming of 2011 with our respective families, so the BF and I had an early New Year celebration at Ayala Triangle Gardens, where we watched an entertaining light show. We planned to eat at Wee Nam Kee to see what the fuss was about, but the place was literally packed! I attempted to get us a seat for two, but the staff said we had to wait for about an hour to get a seat. She said there were 13 people wait listed ahead of us (yes, that many as early as 6pm!), so we opted to eat at Bon Chon and Omakase instead. No regrets, though. Both restos had pretty awesome food!

So, that was my December in a nutshell! As you can see, I owe you guys a lot of food reviews. I hope I can manage to write them all before January ends. Must change my procrastination habits in 2011, yes?

2011 is about to come in a couple of minutes. Happy New Year, everyone! May we all be blessed beyond our imagination! <3

A Berry Banapple Birthday!

As far as birthdays go, I'm a very simple, no fuss kind of girl. Loud parties marked with an abundance of booze, free food and wasted bodies gyrating to dance music are not really my kind of thing, as these usually lure people you really don't want to spend your birthday with. I think the last time our family hosted a huge birthday party was when I turned 7 and my brother turned 1 (yes, we do have the same birth date, which can be kind of annoying when you're a kid who doesn't want to share the attention and the budget for gifts, mind you). From that time on, our family celebrated birthdays with simple meals and a lot of cheesy togetherness.

For my mom's birthday this year though, my dad wasn't with us for work reasons. Being the eldest and all, I took the initiative to fund my mom's birthday brunch.  My family is kind of hard to feed because of our varying preferences, but the one thing that we all actually agree on is good dessert, so off to Banapple we went (this was last November 21, but I procrastinated blogging about it for a month!).


Insalata Rustico
We started the meal with some healthy greens. We chose Insalata Rustico, which was basically just fresh mixed greens with black olives, diced tomatoes, grated parmesan cheese and slivers of toasted almonds. The greens were very fresh and crisp, and the helpings of olives, cheese and almonds were quite generous. The dressing was cream based, garlicky good but far too sour for my liking. 

We Have a New Weekend Market in Town

If you like spending your weekend morning in Salcedo or Legazpi Market, I'm sure you'd love   Mercato Centrale in Bonifacio Global City! 

Although December is generally one of our coldest months, the temperature can still get uncomfortably hot during late mornings to noon. I usually shy away from going to weekend markets because the heat and humidity ruin the experience for me, but the air conditioned tents of Mercato Centrale left me with no reason to avoid this nifty place. If you hate commuting as much as I do, fret not, because you may bring your cars along. The brilliant organizers ensured a stress-free Mercato Centrale experience by providing enough parking space for customers. If you do not have a  car, a map or a GPS, just get your butt to Bonifacio High Street and you'll have it easy from there. Mercato Centrale is located at the open lot right behind The Spa.

Now, on to the gastronomic delights that Mercato Centrale is so full of! Be warned, though, my photos do not do justice to the food. I only used my point and shoot and was too wasted (from night shift, not from drinking!) to take good shots. Do you know what makes Mercato Centrale ultimately awesome? Well, it offers a little bit of something for everyone!

Here to start your day right with a hearty breakfast? Mercato Centrale offers a variety of delicious, but affordable breakfast deals for you. I personally liked Auntie May's homemade tapa and Jam's angus beef tapa. Yes, my favorite Pinoy breakfast to date is Tapsilog.

Chef Laudico's Bfast

Pan de sal, a classic Pinoy breakfast with a twist

Tender and tasty tapa from Auntie May's

Going Cosmopolitan at John and Yoko

I usually avoid going to Ayala, unless someone volunteers to drive for me (and search for a much coveted parking slot) or unless I'm meeting my girl friends from UP, who are all well worth braving the Ayala traffic for. Last Saturday was one of those moments when friendship beckons amongst the Makati weekend crowd, and I was too much of a weakling (and a good friend, I hope) to resist. 

Our Saturday affair was thankfully not one of those times where the indecision about where to eat forces us to walk aimlessly and waste twenty minutes of our time ping pong-ing the words, "where do we eat?" and "up to you" amongst ourselves. I guess I have my good friend Emy to thank,  as she sent me rather insistent text messages to get my fat ass to John and Yoko the soonest possible time or risk her wrath. 

John and Yoko is an upscale Filipino owned restaurant serving modern Japanese cuisine.  It boasts of bringing to life the slightly overused concept of East meets West, by serving Japanese food tinged with Western influence. Allow me to post this well written excerpt from their menu:

"John is from the West while Yoko comes from the East. As John is bold, modern, and fresh, Yoko is guarded, conservative and traditional. He is sunset while she is sunrise or the dawn of a new day! In essence, johnandyoko is a successful union of the two worlds. It is union where the new embraces the old and the innovative features the authentic."

The restaurant was dimly lit, with bare black ceilings and  patterned walls. It looked very modern and industrial, without losing the casual vibe. 

For starters, we had New York Fried Maki, which was rice rolled in tempura-batter-coated-Nori and stuffed with mango, cucumber and unagi. You have to put the whole thing in your mouth to experience the burst of flavor and amazing mixture of textures of this maki variant. The crispiness of tempura batter, the sticky familiarity of rice, the firmness of unagi, the pleasant sweetness of fresh mangoes and the crunchiness of cucumber all blended perfectly well to make one bombshell of a maki.