Milenyo Mayhem
Last thursday, September 28, 2006, our country experienced another duel with mother nature in the form of typhoon
Milenyo.
I was in the office then, and as the power went out, we decided to thwart the work day. The rain wasn't quite threatening at that time....so what to do? What to do? No power, no office---head to the mall!!! My friend Warren fetched me from the office and we headed to Robonson's Galleria to meet up with Nikki, we were contemplating on a movie and some shopping--nice!Driving there, the rain started to get all misty and the wind getting stronger. By the time we got to Galleria, we can already hear the rain and wind growing wild, even from the inside of the mall. We started to worry a nit, but then resigned to the idea that we are safe in the mall and we can leave when it subsides. As we were shopping around, the shops started to close up. We were told that they were closing up the store! WHAT??? What about your social obligation to us who are already here?? --I managed to joke. Soon enough we had to get out of the mall. The blocked off the entire middle area,
the roof of the sort of atrium was ripped, letting in the rain!!! Good thing the shops closed immediately, otherwise they'll be soaked!
It was around lunch time then, so we thought of having lunch before we left the mall. There were people already eating at the restaurants along the expansion wings. Some, like Dulcinea was already closed, but most were still open, like Mangan, Piadina, Bangus and Bacolod Inasal. We were deliberating on where to settle and eat. We decided on Mangan but alas, they were just letting the people who already ordered to finish up. Moving on we found out that none of the restos would accommodated us. Everybody was in a hurry to pack up and leave.
With an empty stomach we left the mall...and then met
Milenyo....
Perhaps we underestimated the magnitude of this typhoon as we were in awe at the sight of the condition of the metropolis. Uprooted trees all everywhere, signs and billboards knocked down, mini floods here and there....it was a sad sight and we felt guilty of thinkingof watching a movie and shopping amidst of it all.
We decided to wait it out at Nikki's house, which was the most proximate to our then on location. We drove through KFC to get take out. They were closed up as well, but they sold us what was ready and available then---only wings! hehehe No time to fuss around chicken parts, we got our food and left for safety.
Despite of the weather condition, we managed to enjoy our wings and have good laughs through the aftrnoon. The rain subsided and we decided to get coffee and then get me home. Can you believe starbucks in Libis and Corinthian Hills were both closed! NOOOOOOO!!!!! We went to Katipunan and good thing Kopi Roti was open. No airconditioning, but open. We had coffee and hanged a bit. I think it was the only shop, besides McDo and Jollibee, that was open as alot of people came in soon after we did. We even bumped into my friends Holden and Edi....hehehe crazy people, in a crazy storm and doin the same crazy things@! hahaha War brought me and Nikki to our respective homes safety and soundly....only to find out----NO POWER in all of our houses and weak Globe signal to boot!!!! Talk about adding insult to injury! But lucky for me, I only suffered the power outage for roughly 30 minutes. YEY!!! Meralco loves our Village! hahaha... I was even able to watch some korean telenovela and the news!
Hope all is safe now. I pray for the people who were more gravely affected by the awfull storm and thank dear God that my family, friends, loved ones and I are all safe through it all.
Hooop-aah, Scoop-ah and Suga-h! Monday Night
There must be a movie curse goin' on--really. Last week I already experienced an awful celluloid trauma with The Wickerman. The movie wicked! I can't belive fine actors such as Nicholas Cage and Kathy Bates would take part in a terrible project like that. Last Monday, I witnessed another film faux pas, this time with the (very handsome) Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johanson and Woody Allen---Scoop. The movie was a poopie! hehehe I apologize to the people who actually liked this film. As for me, I found the movie quite boring and lame. Scarlett Johanson was not convincing as a wide-eyed journalism student. The plots were poorly developed and I thought Woody Allen's character was too annoying (makulit sobra! reminded me of an uncle of mine ;P hehehehe). Oh well so much for that... I will not get into relating the gist if the movie...as I don;t want to remember it anymore hahahaha.
Dinner was the saving grace of the evening. My good ol' shopping pal Mike and I had Greek food at my favorite CYMA =). Across our table, there was a very nice family, whom I think were celebrating the mom's birthday. The mom was beautiful...she looked spanish and she was with her husband,two sons (did I mention they were gorgeous ;P) and a lovely daughter who brought a bouquet of lovely malaysian mums. Yeah---I know--ang chismosa at usisera ko right? Well, to me that kinda thing is just a sight for sore eyes...a lovely family having a lovely time at a lovely restaurant =) That's what I like about Cyma, its a family, friends and even casual dating place.
Here is my chicken gyros...its huge and yummy. The dressing however, is like honey-mustard sauce not the traditional garlic mayo. Its a nice twist and it does taste really good but I still prefer the garlic mayo (for that authentic flare) and I like it on the side. I totally forgot to tell the waiter to hold the dressing...so I just let the excess drip away--gross ei? hehehehe
ooozing with honey-mustard sauce....I don't like! =(
For dessert we went to Sugar House. We had coffee and tea with this chocolate truffle cake. Its nice and moist but nothing spectacular...just good ol' chocolate cake to me hehehe
Cyma is located at the 6th floor or the Shangri-la mall, along Sumosam and Penang Hill. You have to wait to be seated because the place is always full, even on weekdays.
Sugar house is at the 6th floor of Shang-mall as well, along C2, Green Tomato and Mongkok.
In Heaven Again
We met up quite early for our Sunday morning walk, 6am. This time, we were back in good ol' UP and a new friend, Carlo (who is a very good friend of Kat from UP MBA) joined us to take on the academic oval! Welcome, welcome!
Proxy ata ni Kat! ;P heheheh. The whether was quite cool so its was a lovely time to walk leisurely as we chatted along. After going two rounds, we headed on to Eastwood, Libis to have breakfast at Heaven and Eggs. Again??! ---Yes! Sal wanted to compare the food and service of this branch and the one in Tomas Morato, where we had breakfast...last week =) We have a little tendency to go on streaks with our breakfast venue. One time it was Kopi Roti, which went on for about a month or two (so that's like 4 or 8 Sundays!). Then there was Conti's which dragged on for months as well and prior to H & E was Dorset Coffee. It's like we become faithfull to a resto for a time, get "sawa" with the place and food and move on to the next flavor of the month! hehehe ;P
3-Sausages and Eggs Platter for Carlo (notice there is one big chunk of sausage there, then a few slices of the other two; why don't they give 3 whole ones?? H&E are we getting too cheap? Last week it was the fake butter on the bread! hehehehe)
It was served with Eggs the way you want it (in this case scrambled), hash browns and 2 pancakes
Sal and I shared an order of the golden brown waffle (the pic was blurred, sorry) which was cooked right and crisp with real butter this time =) two snaps up H&E Libis! hehehe
We also had the crab and asparagus omelet (they have crabmeat here, bravo Libis!) served with hash browns (we liked these are better than the potato wedges because its like an aggregate of french fries! hehehe) and 2 small pancakes with butter (horraaaaaaaaaaaay!!!)
The Libis H&E has a smaller place but nonetheless, we think this has better service and better verions of the food. Will we be in Heaven again next Sunday??? Maybe---maybe not ;P
Finally...JT's
After carboloading at our friend's cereal shop...Sal and I wanted something savory for our late dinner. We made sure we burned-off all the sugar we ingested by shopping in the Block ;P hehehe Aha! How about having JT's insal!!! I read about it in a post by Ms. Lori Baltazar's
dessertcomesfirst and I couldn't forget the mouth-watering photos of the chicken inasal and the garlic rice with loads of garlic...and the chicken oil.....yummmm. I've eaten insal before but it's only now that I've learned that the oil must be mixed in the rice and chicken for maximum satis
FATion ;P hahaha
We shared an order of
pecho (chicken breast part),
corazon (chicken heart),
baticolon (chicken liver) and an order of garlic rice!!!
My picture of our food is FAR from the salivating snaps of Ms. Lori's (please pardon the lousy shots hehehe) but believe me they were delicious!
Heart and liver beside the rice mountain with golden garlic bits and shimmering with artery clogging chicken oil!!!
No frills no fuss alfresco dinning, that's the JT experience!
Delicious and Nutritious Cerealicious!!!
Attention to kids and kids at heart who are lovers of the the humble early morn treat--the CEREAL!!!! Here, now open at the Block at SM North Edsa...a haven for all those crisp, sugary goodness....
CEREALICIOUS!!! =)
Just think, coco puffs, chex, frosties, cornflakes, fitness, cocopops...all the Nestle cereal brands put all together in a shop that turns this simple breakfast into a cool and fun treat that anybody will surely get addicted to.
You choose a favorite cereal and mix in with fruits, nuts, choc-nut, hershey's kissables, chocolate chips, sauces, cookies, brownies...whatever you can see on the "mix-in" counter that you want. It is served in a yummy vanilla-milkshake-like base. You can have ice cream a top of that to boot!!!
And for a great opening day treat--FREE ICE CREAM ALL YOU CAN with any order of big sized Cerealicious.Not a bad deal for 80 bucks ei?? Specially for the ice cream lovers out there.
Fun and friendly shop
M&M's, nuts, fruits, chocnut, wafer sticks, cookies, graham crakers and candies galore!!! Go gaga choosing over loads and loads of mix-ins...the possiblities seem endless....the limit?--your imagination ;P
a Cerealicious treat in the clasp of a healthy child =)
Lofty Leisures
When I am too tired to scrimmage in tianges and malls on Saturdays, one thing I enjoy as much as shopping is lazing in Nail Loft. It's my favorite nail spa and I go nowhere else for my nail care. And why you might ask?? They have great service by very friendly staff who are well trained. Where can you get a manicure or pedicure with free hand massage, foot scrub,eye mask and a cup of tea? Upon entering, you are greeted warmly with the smell of aroma theraputic scents and seated in their comfy and prettily upholstered sofas with pillows, with the soothing sound of nature or waterfalls on the background . The place is small but cozy and I just adore the interiors---sooo girly =)
Here I am having my pedicure done. They soak the feet in warm water first and is gently scrubbed to prep up the pedi.
They offer a wide selection of polishes, fromlocal to imported ones....take your pick!
As the pedicure is being done, you are given a cool cucumber eye mask to reduce the puffiness of the eyes....and helps you relax all the more. A complimentary hand massage is given. Ther embrocate your arms with a blend of lotion and eucalyptus oil (at least I think its eucalyptus =p) and massage the entire arms and hands.....ohhhhh...sooo good!
This is the little cup of hot tea they offer you as you go on relaxing and enjoying the cleaning and pampering. I always find myself dozing off through everything. Even if I was just having simple mani and pedi...I really felt the stress melt away. Love the nice flower touch.
Moseying at Terry's
As a leisurely activity... I fancy browsing in sprecialty shops, like Santi's, Cook's Exchange, Gourdo's etc. .I just look around to discover any new ingredient or kitchen equipment that I've read about or seen on T.V.. I think its a good learning exercise and at the same time, keeps me away from shopping for clothes, shoes, bags and accessories...which I fancy all the more! hahaha
Yesterday, I was at the Podium and as I was keeping myself from buying a bag that I had my eye on at Lulu (I plan to come back for it this weekend!!! ;P) so I wittingly thought of heading to the basement as I remembered Terry's Selection!
Stroll to stall is the spending control strategy! And hopefully forget and lose interest in the item for purchase on target.
I've heard good things about their food, but I haven't had the chance to dine there--YET! Heheheh I've only managed to snoop into their wide array of wines, cheeses, cured meat products, chocolates, Itallian and Spanish ingredients; and cookery appurtenances.
Here I stumbled upon the rack of Terry's breads...They have foccacia (that I have on the picture below) and whole wheat... they didn't come on to me as appealing as breads at Santi's or Uno...they kinda look sad in their coffin-like rack! hahahah Sorry Mr. Terry! But I'm sure they taste great! ;P
I found vanilla beans on the counter. These, I heard, are great for making custards. Instead of using vanilla flavor that we normally buy in bottles...you heat it up with the milk to infuse the vanilla essence. You open the pod and scrape the inside out. Do I remember this correctly? Anybody there---please re-educate me on this matter as I have not yet tried cooking with fresh vanilla beans...forgive my audacity in siting cooking information I am ignorant of =( Heck, I just wana put something about it so I can post this picture! hahaha Basta, They're good stuff to cook with and they look cute! let's drop it!
The wines are also on sale and I also found they sell itallian coffee grinds and beans!
So what is the ponit of this entry? I have a to do list made in my head:
1.) Fine a good companion to dine with at Terry's
2.) Try cooking with fresh Vanilla beans
3.) After I finish my Cafe Amadeo (which I am beginning to dislike =( the brew i weak even if I put alot of coffee!), buy Terry's Itallian Blend coffee grinds
4.) GO BACK TO LULU ;P
Aaaah my friends..to window shop is good..but to purchase is divine!
Our family loves to cook. Yesterday I cooked beef steak and I was mighty proud of it because I thought it went out good. Unfortunately, only one of my sis got to try it because when we all got home from the office, my dad already cooked us dinner......
I think these are steamed baby lobsters...
and these are steamed soft shell crabs....
I like seafood but I am pretty lazy to make "balat". If there was someone who'd be nice enough to do that for me...I think I'd enjoy eating these more! ;P There was a platter of california maki and kani maki that went along with this (the pic was blurred unfortunately so I can't share it with you here)
Thank you for dinner dad! =) Let's just have my beefsteak another night...hehehehe
Heavenly Breakfast & An Advanced Birthday Surprise!!!
This sunday Sal and I had breakfast at Heaven and Eggs in Tomas Morato. We decided to go there because we were waiting for our friend Kat to get to her office.....yes...office, on a sunday. And why? Its because dear darling Kitty is leaving for the United Kingdom!!! Her long awaited and well deserved vacation, here at long last. She will be out of the country for a month---BON VOYAGE GIRL!!!! Sal and I will terribly miss you.
We love pancakes! To date, the best pancakes that Sal and I have had, and still coundn't forget...the banana walnut pancakes at Bag of Beans (when it was still open in Greenhills). It had bananas and walnuts mixed in the thick pancakes and stacked with more bananas and walnuts in between!!!!! This is why we had to choose the banana caramel pancakes at H & E. The pancakes were thick and fluffy but we felt short with the teensy weeency bananas it went with. We found the caramel too sugary sweet---I think the sugar hasn't reached the caramelization stage yet! And what more so diminished the satisfaction points of this order is that, it came in so late. Our chicken broccoli omelet came in 30mins ahead! I think its because the waitress made a mistake in taking our oder. We were wondering why they kept serving us the choco-banana waffle---we turned it down 3 times!!! Then I called in the waitress and said..."miss, d ba we ordered for banana caramel pancakes?" waitress goes, "yes ma'am the choco banana waffle" and smiles....that explained everything!
This lone pancake was what was left of 3. Sal and I stared at it and went...."kay Kat dapat yan share na yan e..." so we had it wrapped and brought it to her =) hehehehe
banana-caramel pancake (a lone banana on a pancake island!)
chicken-broccoli omelet (that's not butter on the bread!!!!)
This is the chicken broccoli omelet. We wanted it served with fries and bread....the fries turned into potato wedges and initially, pancakes were served to us instead of bread....we had it changed to bread but it came with margarine instead of butter! (you'd think a nice restaurant like this could afford to give REAL butter naman dapat d ba?) Hayayay! The servers seem to have minds of their own!
After that we headed on to Kat's office....and was I off for a surprise....
My birthday is up and coming...and every year we three celebrate eachother's birthday together. I was kinda sad because this year Kat will not be here for my birthday....but how sweet is my friend to still think of my present before she leaves for UK. Amidst her busy packing and office work wrap-ups....this....a beautifully packaged present with a beautiful gift inside!
Love it girl! Thank you very much though I'll still miss you on my birthday!
Theobromine in Theobroma
Chocolate contains a methylxanthine called theobromine. This gives that similar caffeine kick we get from drinking coffee, but to a lesser degree.
While out for work in Paranaque last Saturday. I saw this quaint chocolatier shop named after the stimulant component of the cacao----Theobroma.
They sell these lovely looking chocolates in different varieties...milk chocolates, white chocolates, semi-sweet, sugar-free and my favorite dark!
They also make their own gellato and they have coffee as well. I ordered coffee for take out but the server accidentally spilled it....what to do since I was in a hurry to go leave?......
change my order! hmmmm.... it will take more time to prep an americano than to scoop a gellato ---i did the math! less time more calories...what the #@%%
bitter-sweet chocolate gellato
This is bitter-sweet chocolate gellato on a waffle cone!!!! It's soooooo good! Really chocolatey...not too sweet and it has excellent mouth feel!!! To the hips they will all go!!!! hahahaha
Later that night, I had dinner with a friend at Italianni's Greenhills (I forgot to take photos of our Salmon risotto, which was great and verdure penne) and had coffee at starbucks. It was a pleasant evening filled with good conversations.
Theobromine and caffeine high...what a Saturday it was!
Greenhills Tiangge
If there is any place I always go to besides home and office, its Greenhills. It's not intentional but I always find myself there, around 4 times a week on the average.
Tiangge goodies
Cafe Amadeo
I bought this from the tiangge.... as I was convinced by the stall seller that this is good coffee made by the coffee farmers cooperative in the Philippines. Its a blend or arabica, robusta and excelsia beans.
Well, I'm using it now an it has a nice clean taste and mild body =)
Blog-addicted!
My sis bakekang was a blogger way, way ahead of me. I have always found it odd why she takes sooo much time canoodling with her blogspot and livejournals. Sometimes she would rather stay home than go malling with us so that she could hog the pc---aaahhh...the kids of today! Strange, strange, strange--I thought to myself. NOT ANYMORE!!!Yes, I must admit, I am hooked on blogging. I look forward each blogging day---and I love it!
Last night, I was having dinner with some friends and the girls in the group ( didi, jake and I), were all into blogging too! We were so enthralled talking about blogs that the boys were like duh?! with us...and teased us na "wala lang kame magawa sa buhay namin!" hahaha..If they could only give it a try, I'm pretty sure that they will get hook as well. With all that, I totally forgot to take pictures of our food! So here is what was left on the table when I finally remembered to take photos.....
Oh well...next time again.
Uno Goodies and tuna spread
I just adore bread. I love making it as much as I love eating it. If I would have to choose just one source of major carbohydrate, it would be bread.
I am the only one in the house who eats whole wheat bread and so I always keep a bag of whole wheat bread in the freezer. Freezing bread keeps the shelflife longer and it doesn't affect the quality and taste. Upon buying a fresh loaf, I slice it diagonally (to form a small triangle for every slice) ang stash it at once in the freezer. So whenever I want some bread I just take what I need and pop them in the toaster. Yesterday, I went to UNO restaurant and bought me a nice soughdough ciabatta bread to replenish my emtied bread stash.
This picture does not do justice to this wondeful artisinal bread, but I guarantee that it smells so good and taste great. It has a good crust that crisps when you toast it and the has a gummy body that is soft but has a bite to it and with a slight sour flavor. This is precisely why its called SOUR dough bread! hahaha This bread is a naturally leavened bread by wild yeast. A flour mixture is made and set out to capture yeast from the air. You know that you've caught something when the dough bubles up due to fermentation by ambient yeast. This is then carefully retrieved...revived and used as a starter for various bread making purposes. The process is a bit tedious and much love and care is given to it, hence more flavor is imbibed in the dough. I have made yeast breads like pan de sal, french bread, indian roti's, doughnuts and cinnamon rolls but I have not ventured into making bread from wild yeast. It's something I plan to do someday soon.
Uno bakes their bread fresh daily as well as their pastries and cakes (if I'm not mistaken). As I was buying my beloved ciabatta, my attention was caught by these cute muffins...so I got 2 of them for my sister's bogey and bakekang. They love muffins....(I think these are banana oatmeal)
Usually I like sourdough with soup---that's lunch or dinner already! My friend Elaine and I share this passion for the UNO sourdough and we have it with soup for lunch. Since I only have canned soup at home and too lazy to make soup from scratch, I decided to make tuna spread instead.
I used 2 cans of tuna chunkcs in water and some sweet pickle relish that I set out to drain first. Normally I put a small can pineapple tidbits to give an added sweetness and the sour taste cuts through the fishy taste of the tuna. Unfortunately, the pantry was out of pineapple today. I like to add canned chopped pimientos that I drain with all of these to give a prettier color and added flavor as well, but again, pantry is out so make do with what I have right?
I mixed some low fat mayonaise, mustard, a finely chopped onion, a dash of salt, freshly ground pepper, a dash of worcestershire sacue, a sprinkling of sugar and some parmesan cheese.
I added the ingredients I set out to drain, into the mayo mix and mix it thoroughly....the pic here doesn't look appetizing (I know...it looks all yellow sad and yucky!hehehe) ....blame the poor lighting in the kitchen and my phone camera! But just please take my word for it...its yummy ;P (though the version with complete ingredients is still better)
I had these for breakfast---my tuna spread with toasted sourdough ciabatta... and teensie-weensie dollop of macaroni salad I found in the ref!
I tried to pose the bread in another way....they still don't look good! rats!!!! I need to read on food styling techniques if I want to be convincing here..hahahaha!
Meeting Ms. Heny
Atfer my daily office duties..I take time and have mini R&R breaks during the day, sort of to ease stress and take time to stop and smell the roses as they say..or in my case...smell the coffee =)
Yesterday, I chose to have a cafe mocha...I like the cafe mocha at Starbucks...no whip ofcourse...I hate whipped cream (sorry to those who love 'em). Here it is......
...I sit and enjoy this at Starbucks Greenhills, beside Chili's. I was waiting for my sister to finish her class at Heny Sison. My sis and I are fans of Ms. Heny. We have been watching her show since time immemorial and we adore her as we adore baking. I remember the first thing I baked (that was edible ha) ...Peanut Butter cookies! I was in the 3rd grade then. I was fond of making cookies...like lenguas de gato, chocolate crinkles, chocolate chip cookies, butter cookies..etc., and as I got older, I moved on to making brownies, cakes and breads. You can just imagine how excited I got when my sis texted me to go there and meet Ms. Heny....
....she was very friendly and accommodating! I told her that I was a fan and I loved to bake also. We chatted about some people we know in common and chit chatted a bit. She even brought out a pecan pie from the ref...took a piece of it and let me try it as well! It was delicious! Not too sweet and it had a tinge of rum flavor. She went on to making an apple pie....she was testing the recipe for the pies she will offer to sell this coming Christmas season. Its going to be a limited edition pies, each sold with a beautiful ceramic pie plate....if I remeber correctly, only 250 pieces of them are going to be made and sold..so LET's go and make our reservations...I'm sure they will be great!
Here is the character cake my sis made in school for our shobe....
...cute isn't it?! It was neatly and beautifuly iced! My shobe was really happy when she saw her cake. Shobe is down with German measles!!!!! eeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkk!!!! She is all red and rashy now.....get well soon Bakekang! ;P
And to end my day...I had coffee with my good friend Holden...kahit late na fight pa rin sa kape right?! hahaha We had coffee at UCC Morato....I had the Sumiyaki blend...
...we were at the smoking area and there was this person smoking TOBACCO!!!!...The smell made me feel dizzy. When I got home I could really smell the smoke in my hair and in my clothes@!!!!! Eeeewwweee hahaha...cigarette smoke is tolerable and ok...but tobacco stench is nasty!!!! (My apologies to all tobacco somkers out there...its just a personal opinion)
More coffee photos...
This is my espresso maker, its a Melita given to me by my dad from his vacation in California...Thanks dad! It came along with 2 2pounder bags of Starbucks beans. One French Roast and a House Blend =)
This is the coffee contraption I boughtin Vietnenam. Very easy to use.
My coffee mugs in a pyramid! They're kinda hyper in the morning! hahaha ;P
The Cafe del Sol mug is given to me by my good friend Ven. Cafe del Sol is my favorite coffee shop in boracay. When I was there for a vacation, I go there everyday...more than once a day!
The Starbucks mug is from the branch in Ashcreek. It was "OBTAINED" by my friend Andrea back then when we used to hang at Ashcreek a lot. Thanks An! Miss you girl! Good thing you always carry a BIG bag along =) hahahaha
Last but not the least...The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf mug...I got from the opening of the the first Coffee Bean branch, which is the one at Gb3! I remeber they had an OPEN COFFEE BAR----imagine me....being told I can get any coffee on the menu...all the coffee I can have!!!! hahahahaA night to remember.
Lots of memories in lots of coffee shops...coffee and I are a match made in heaven.
Oh and not to forget....this clear coffee bean and tea leaf mug....was "OBTAINED" at the branch in promenade! I remember I was with my very very dear college friend Lotte at that time, when she was here for vacation from DC. We were rolling over laughing. Now I use it as a water glass at home.
My Coffee Love
If there is one thing that I can't live without....its the black, liquid love of mine....MY COFFEE. I love coffee. I have a very serious relationship with the brew. I like it strong, with a bold flavor leaning on the bitterside and not the acidic type. The intoxicating aroma...the bitter sweet taste...the rich deep black with and almost goldish hint....the entire act of preparing the brew to the actual sitting and enjoyment of the coffee....i love it all.
I have used several coffee contraptions. I had the traditional
coffeemaker; the
espreso machine ( given to me by my dad coming from his vacation in the US); the old fashioned
coffee percolator; the
itallian bialetti stove top espresso maker (I bought it from Bacchus in Makati Shangri-la---it had a sad and bitter ending. One day I decided to bring it to the office...to maximize espresso consumption-- So I set it up over the stove...and then I was called to attend to a phone call....afterwhich I proceeded to doing some paperwork and office stuff----OMG!!!!!! MY BIALETTI---ON THE STOVE!!!-----What horror it was to see the handle falling-off, as is it was melted and the metal all charred!!!! CHARRED!!!!!---and no one to blame but myself! It was heart breaking...I felt awful); moving on... a
Vietnamese coffee contraption which I bought when I had a vacation in Vietnam (I fell in love with their cape...they used the steeping method using a tin metallic contraption that you place on top of a cup. It gave a very strong and flavorful brew but the downside is that you have to have patience with it---its takes a while before you all the water passes through so at times the coffee is not that hot anymore...they serve it with sweet milk); and now I use this....
a
Bodum french press, which I bought from Starbucks Gb3....
They say that the french press gives the best brew among all coffee extraction method. You simply place the coffee grind inside the pitcher (Remember to have the beans ground specifically for french press use. This is because if you use a fine grind, it will all pass through the wire mesh, thus you end up with a muddy cup of coffee.
I used the beans given to me by a friend, which are actually from Vietnam. I had them ground at the local Starbucks. They set it at 10 for a coarse grind...
Pour very hot but not boiling water.....
I like to mix first it to make an infusion....
and I allow it to steep for about 4-5 minutes before pressing.
I don't like to get grinds in my coffee because I like to finish it off to the last drop! This is why I do a final filtering in my mug.... hehehehe
I add little cream and brown sugar..or I take my coffee black....whichever way...its always worth all the time and effort.
Photos from Lasa Manila
Lasa Manila at the ground floor of The Podium
Bagoong Rice, with slices of green mangoesa meal by itself...
Pinaputok na Kesong Puti
A great appetizer! It has a sliver of green bell pepper in each roll and served with a refreshing tomato salsa...eat it while still hot! hahaha
Baked Tahong
Sisig
...great with plain rice! Their version, I find very flavorful =)
Belly-liciousis very delicious! hahaha The skin is crispy like chicharon and the meat still tender.
Crispy Patathe best dish...probably because its FREE!!!! ;P hahaha Good and crispy and the serving portion is just right for 4 people
The best part...the dessert..........
Suman at Manga
Lighty toasted suman served with succulent mangoes and a pot of sugar ...May I suggest they serve it with a pot of warm chocolate eh for dipping for that extra umph!!! not to metion calories!hahahaha Doesn't the most sinful things taste most heavenly??? =)
Buco PandanTiers of pandan jelly and coconut cream...
I should set an appointment for a general check up, first thing monday morning! After the McDonald frenzy last friday that went on untill saturday breakfast.....I was on a pork fest for lunch and dinner!
McDo breakfast does seem to have a great satiety value. My sisters and I stayed full through lunchtime. We went to podium around 330pm and had a late lunch at LASA Manila. They serve delicious Filipino fare with a twist. I was first introduced to this resto by my very good friend Shawie (a college kabarkada of mine). When our friend Ros went back to Manila from Boston (she moved there a few years after colloge to take up her Masters). Shawie suggested we take her there...and we were all very delighted with our dinner then. So, I recommended this resto to my sisters for our usual saturday lunch outs and has become one of our favorites. It has become some sort sisterly ritual to eat lunch together every saturday primarily because there is no school for Nikki. So we went there and had their sisig, which was really good and flavorful; the belly-licious...which was like lechon kawali served with their own lechon sauce. The pork was very crispy yet still tender and falvorfull. The skin was crunchy as chicharon! But I think they had better used the good ol Mang Tomas sarsa ng bayan sauce! hahaha I'm not really a fan of pork. In general I go for chicken, seafood, beef and lastly pork. I don't know what came over us, but this lunch turned into pork frenzy! Pork sisig, lechon kawali and to top it off the waiter told us we were given a FREE (yes FREE) order of crispy pata!!! The waiter asked "are you going to avail it now or on your next visit?" ....we looked at eachother and cried out---"bring it on!!!!" hahahaha.....A top from all that, we ordered the pinaputok na kesong puti, it was cheese sticks....very similar to the one I had with Sal at Dorset, however the version at Lasa was served with a light tomato salsa, which I find rather refreshing. We also had baked tahong. Are we hungry or are we hungry???? hahahaha Oh and Bagoong rice to boot! What better accompaniment for porky viands than....rice with more pork! hhahahaha. I prefer plain and so does my sister Nikki, so we ordered that as well. The bagoong rice was served with sliced green mangoes on the side and topped with binagoongan pork. I think you can have this as a meal on its own. The baked tahong was ok but nothing special. It was a very satisfying meal. And what to do when you're already full to the brim??? Eat some more! So on to dessert my sisters headed. Nikki ordered the buco pandan and Bogey had the suman at manga. Their version of the buco pandan was not the usual fruit salad style I usually encounter. They served it in tiers of pandan jelly and coconut-cream layer. The serving was big and it was good as well, though it fell behind Nikki's standards for good buco pandan. She likes it the traditional way, I guess, because it cooler and cramier and you get a good ratio of cream to jelly in every spoonful---how precising! hahahaha Their's was a bit on the dry side. As for the suman at mangga...my sister Bogey declared it a winner! The suman was crisped on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. It was served with fresh mangoes and a small pot of sugar for dipping the suman. I was good. Desserts with contrasting of temperature (warm suman...cool mangoes) and flavor always wins me over . Bogey just engoyed the suman as she loves rice cakes! hahahha
And the McLove goes on...
Just when I thought I've had enough of McGoodFood already....I have these for breakfast! How about a Longanisa meal with coffee??? Hahahaha Ah yes! The McDonald-ing seems to go on a streak! I woke up kinda late this moring...around 630am (apart from my usual 5-530am morning rise) so I wasn't able to have breakfast at home. NormallyI have coffee, whole-wheat toast with butter or eggs on the side. Today on the other hand, I had breakfast McDo with my sisters. It happens to be the most favorite thing of my sister Nikki. She always gets 2 breakfast MEALS! Yes 2! This morning she ordered one Pancake meal with OJ and an egg McMuffin meal with cold Milo! hahahaha I remember one time when we were in Greenbelt one Saturday morning as well, she was making "kulit" me to get McDo breakfast.NOTE: This was after she had a breakfast of baked mac and cheese before we left the house. So we went and she got the MEGA breakfast meal which comprised of 2pcs longanisa, 1 omelette, 3 sausages, garlic rice, 2 pcs pancakes oh and OJ....she finished them all to the last morsel I tell you...I was in awe on how she managed to do that. Ah the kids these days! But don't be mistaken though..you might be thinking she is obese or something....my sister Nikki is skinny as hell!!! hahahaha Well..high fat, high protein in the diet works I guess ;P Or maybe because when it comes to real home cooked healthy food she eats tine a mice!
No more McDo please..not for the next month I hope! Jollibee naman! hahahaha
Pa-pa-ra-pa-pa....luv ko to!
Ahhhhh....the end of another work week! I finished-off the last leg of my office tasks with a meeting in Greenhills, which ended up rather early around 4-ish. So I headed to Vmall to hang with my friend Oliver at his store, Gadget Geeks. We manned the store and joked around till about 7pm! We were waiting for Ven and Chi so we can all go together to our friend Ackee's birthday bash... at wherelse.....MCDO GREENHILLS!!!! =) Ackee..is the barkada of the shobe (younger sister) of my friend Oli. She is a nice bubbly girl who just adores the color pink...she wore a ruffly pink blouse with a matching, equally ruffly pink bag..her cake was pink, her give awyas were all in pink and she even asked us all to wear pink (though most of us didn't...but her barkada did! hahaha...sorry girl its hard to impose outfit colors on older people!hahahaha ;P) So when we got there, it was almost 830pm...we were all famished! You can just imagine how much we anticipated and appreciated the McSpaghetti and Chicken, Hamburger, soda and Hot Fudge Sundae served to us! McDonald's food tastes its best when ingested in an empty stomach! hahaha Hooooray for the McParty and to McAckee! hahahahha Thank you!
ACKEE'S PRETTY IN PINK CARE BEAR CAKEHAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRLFRIEND!!!!!
After devouring and enjoying our McMeals...it was time for some McGames! We
were given party hats, which as you can see here..the boys really had fun playing with. It seemed like we were all ten again! We played lots of games like care bear puzzle making....boys versus girls....boys won! Can you believe that?! But our nice boys gave us girls there prizes anyway...a deck of carebear cards! hahaha KAYA SIGURO BINIGAY@! bwahahaha No..no...no our boys are really nice guys....Oli, DENNIS este Venice, ELMER a.k.a. Warren, PETER Chi and Matthew =). There was a bring me contest and several relay games which we all enthusiatically joined.
Here is my friend WARREN ELMER, a 28 yr old guy...in a BATMAN mask made from a McParty HAT that he so dutifully cut out with the aid of Oli's nifty swiss knife!
Talk about maturity ei?! hahaha....Add a little drag there.... that's ma man da man! hahahaha
We played almost every game (that helped burn-off all the McFat) and got to take home lots of nice care bear stuff!!! I got a nice pink bag, pencils, candy, cards all in pink!!!!! hahahahah.
After that highy energetic kiddie party..we went on to Little Asia at Promenade to meet up with Jowi and her friends for a...err... more appropriate activity for people our age. Back tracking on my chemistry...Alcohol is in factm a fat solvent. With this in mind, I therefore conclude that it be a logical act to go on a drinking spree after a fatty meal! hahaha And so we did or rather they did. I really don't drink beer and I rarely enjoy drinking alcoholic beverages (maybe because I dont take it well) I can only handle 1 serving of Absolut7--make it 2...and zonk@#! ---I'm out! Passed out that is! My friends had a few rounds of beer....just water for me please! As we capped the evening off.
Thank God Its Friday talaga!!!
I love mornings =)
I usually wake up rather early in the mornings. No matter how late I sleep the previous night, I still end up waking up around 5am! On good sleep days my eyes open up 4am or 3am!!!! So what do I do so early in the morn'? After the usual brushing of the teeth..washing the face...I head straight down to the kitchen and fix myself a mug o'java! Right now I am altering the use of a french press, which I bought from Starbucks Gb3..and a vietnamese coffee contraption (which employs the steeping method of brewing). I think I'll make a separate blog on that =) Sometimes I do my baking in these wee hours of the morning. I used to make whole wheat pan de sal, regular pan de sal, bake brownies or beer bread! My fave things to bake in the morning. Do you think its just lovely to wake up smelling the aroma of freshly baked pan de sal? I say its wonderful =)...and with coffee brewing on the side...any day would really start ot great! At times I got into the streak of whipping up breakfast extravaganza...fried rice (and I vary them with garlic sinangag, longa-sinangag, bagoong fired rice, yang-chow u name it....) eggs, corned beef n hash, tocino, logganisa, tuyo...whatever I find in the pantry or ref!
The picture above is my night table in this morning! That is the book I'm reading now...I blog about it when I finish it..I'm far from half way! hahaha My mug of coffee. I did something really disgusting with that. To sweeten it up...well...er....I put Duphalac ;P yahahahahaaaaa! I know, I know....please forgive the craziness of the act! Its that This week I am taking this medicine...for I suffer from chronic---you know what---but that's another story. Anyways, I take about 30ml of it in the morning. I find it really, really sweet! Its like honey or viscous sugar syrup. Its probably because it is a lactose derivative. So while making my coffee this morning...I had this crazy idea---why don't I add my medicine in my coffee!!!--since its sssoooo damn sweet I just won't add sugar!---'ting' (the idea bulb went) ---and so there you go...vietamese style coffee ala Duphalac! hahahaha It tasted good actually. ...hmmm should have done this days ago and made my medicine taking more palatable! hahahaha Gross!!! gross!!! I know ;P hahahaha
Saturday on a Tuesday???....
I got confused really..on what day it was yesterday. I was set to meet up with Jackie, a friend of mine from way back highschool, to get something. She called me up a little before lunch and asked me if we want to make it a lunch thingy. I had a generally free schedule for the day anyways so I said we could have a leisurely lunch out. She picked me up from the office around 1130am and we headed to the Hearts of Mary and Jesus Parish in Times area then we headed on to Shang mal, because I wanted her to try CYMA. Unfortunately CYMA was packed and we were asked if we could wait 10 minutes to be seated. Our grumbling stomachs didn't allow us to wait and so we just settled to eat at Penang. It wasn't really settling, I think Penang has good Singaporean food...I like their roti canai. We ordred the Satay appetizer and shared half an order of Bagoong rice. They really have big servings there that even our half order of Bagoong rice was too much! We were so full after. We shopped around and chatted. I was able to buy a pair of ring toed shoes from Celine, owned by a good friend of mine (thanks dear Joy for the discount!) Here they are...
my foot! ;P
I love wedge shoes..they're nice and comfy yet still fashionable! I adore the print on the wedge and insole! =)
Around 4pm we headed our to Miriam Katipunan to fetch Jack's sis...then I went back to the office to drop off my stuff and we then proceeded to Nai Loft---my favorite nail spa! They have great service and the place is nice and comfy. Itjust feels right to get a pedi to go with my new wedg-e nalang hahahahha ;) After our foot pampering we went to Starbucks Morato for some java jolt. I had a cappuccino, non-fat, extra hot with extra shot por favor!!!! (my usual) and Jack opted for a mocha with EXTRA WHIP! (eeeewwwwwee! Sorry but I HATE whipped cream =/ ) and a walnut brownie. My friend War came in about half an hour and joined us for a while untill Jack had to go home.
So War and I fetched our friend Elaine, who just happens to live near the area. Famished...we deliberated on where to satiate our hunger. The verdict--NP Kopi Tiam located at the edge of horseshoe cornering Crame. I think its a spin-off from the ol North Park. Its somesort of a chinese coffee shop cum chinese/korean/japanese short order restaurant cum patisserie! hehehehe Me and Elaine shared a chicken teriyaki-wanton noodle soup and War had the seafood bibimbop. I didn't like the noodle soup at all!!! It was like watered down chicken teriyaki with hard boiled egg, noodles and dumplings and I did NOT fancy the combination. Warren was the winner here! His bibimbop was really good. We ended up eating off spoonfulls from his bowl! hahaha...We had a little karaoeke thing goin on then...they were playing 80's/90's music on the back drop so me and War sang along....it was raining then...it rained harder when we did! hahahah Elaine got a little lost somewhere in the sing-songy situation...its because she is not familiar with most of the songs playing ! Next time girl, we do your time! hahaha
What a Sat --err--Tuesday!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BRUKI KAT!!!!
KATHERINE!!!!!!Yesterday was a special day...for it was the birthday my dear darling friend KAT! I woke up early...around 4:45am...and I was very excited to whip her up a batch of Cocoa-Walnut brownies with Fudgy Frosting! And so I did! But since I haven't bought my digicam yet...no pics of it for now. Its soo easy to make I was done before 6am! Actually, I was really planning on baking her my Chocolate Cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting. This friend of mine is really fond of the choco-bon at Cinnzeo. But when the last of it's shop closed up (I think it was the one in Pearl drive) she was ranting to us on how she missed the chocobons. With that in mind..I made her these as a birthday present....
.....and I was soooo happy that she really loved them! hahahha I made a chocolate dough of the cinnmon roll....put lots of butter, cinnamon sugar and chocolate morsels in the roll. As frosting, I made a cream cheese one...to contrast the chocolately bun! These are very soft rolls unlike the commercially available ones...=)
Maybe next week I'll make some for her. Anyway...goin back...Sal and I planned to surprise her that evening. I went to National bookstore Annapolis to have a balloon bouquet made, but unfortunately they could not accommodate me that time because none of the staff present knew how to make them then. It started to rain aroung 4pm and I proceeded to National bookstore Q.Ave. Luckily they knew how to make the balloon bouquets. I picked a lilac colored big balloon with floral prints and had smaller pastel colored balloons aroung tied up in a bunch. (I wish I had a camera na!!!--grrrrrrrrrr...I'll get one today I swear!). I had my sisters dropped me off at UCC tomas morato to wait for Sally and mang Dino (the driver). I had a UCC blended coffee...read my Sophie Kinsella book (I'm reading The Undomestic Goddess) as I waited ..and waited...and waited...Sal was caught in traffic! She finally got to meet me around 8pm already! We were famished then and decided to get Mcdo take out. So we got to Kat's house almost 9pm! Kat and her family were halfway through dinner, I think, when we knocked on the door. Sal and I felt quite shy to barge in with our surpirse....when we got in Kat was all..."Oh my goshhhhhhh....." and we felt really good that she was happily surprised~hahaha...a few moments later a group of people was by the door...it was her friends from UP MBA...they came to surprise her as well!!!! Surprise of surprises! The evening turned into an instant party! We had dinner again....coffee...had great laughs and conversations. We headed home around midnight...all in high spirits but most importantly we made our friend's day extra special. She texted us how thankful she was and happy that evening...I slept with a smile =)
Happy Birthday Kitty!
Photos for yesterday's post...
Fresh red Plums...looks like Plums are in season!
My friend Sal...Fruit picking at The fruit Store, while wating for out shakes...
Dorset coffee....well maybe just the cup! hehehe I'll definitely remember to take photos first before gobbling up the food! hahaha
Classic Filipino Cuisine….
Last Saturday my sisters and me went to shang mall to have lunch at C2 Classic Cusine. We had pan seared Tilapia with coconut emulsion, chicken pastel and aligue rice! I the Tilapia was nice and crisp and I like the shoestring potato fries garnished on top. I found the coconut sauce a bit bland tasting though. I had to splash on come seasoning to give it and umph! Hehehe. My sister Nikki enjoyed the chicken pastel very much. We capped or lunch by sharing a tablea tiramisu with Spanish chololate sauce.
Late in the afternoon, I went to Greenhills and met up with my friend Oli at his shop. We planned on having dinner with his beloved Dang and several of our other friends. But as the situation called for at that moment, I decided to shop around for a while…I bought nice cork wedged black-strapped shoes =) (to give my friend couple some quality time…hehehe) To cut a long and complicated story short…I hanged-out instead with my friend Stephen at UCC. I had a kani-shrimp sandwich along with my coffee…uhhhh..I really really wish I had a digi cam along! The cam of my V3, unfortunately gives lousy photos when posted on the net (but don’t get me wrong! I adore my black razor! It’s slim and compact and I love it! Hahaha) It’s only now that I have started blogging that I feel the dire need to own a digicam!!! No I want a digi cam!!!! Ok so back to my story….I had a very nice time with my friend that I totally lost track of time! I was supposed to meet up with Nikki, Doc and War!!! They got to Peri-peri chicken arnd 10ish pala! Hahaha. So Stephen and me met up with them there----they were admist their ‘merry making already’ hahaha…everyone all rosy and happy; P hahahah…. So we ended the night there and headed home around 130am or 2.
A Tale Of 3 Coffee Shops…
Sunday mornings are devoted for morning walks with Sal and Kat. Kat was still a bit under the weather, so it was Sal and I again---champions of breakfasts! Crusaders of walks and “reynas” of tiangges! =D The time was set 7 am! I was super “sabog” when I got there. The guard was just about to open up the chains that surrounded the parking space. One of the major reasons I like this place, aside from the good food and coffee, is the big parking space. Sal arrived in about 10 ten minutes. She brought me a small bag filled with colorful ponytails =) SOOooooo nice! Thanks girl! We shared the shrimp omelet with cream sauce, grilled chicken with scrambled eggs, some buttered toasts and a side order of cheese sticks with yogurt dip. We liked the cheese sticks, which had a sliver of red bell pepper inside. Sal liked the dip and I preferred ketchup with it. It reminded me of a favored recess food when I was still in highschool. Cheesesticks, which had more wrappers than cheese that, and I dip in in ketchup! At UFC ketchup pa! Not tomato basically because---yun lang ang available sa canteen! Hahahha yuck ba? Well not for moi! I used to love that. The shrimp omelet was really good. I had some chopped walnuts in it, which gave a crunchy dimension to the saucy shrimp-y-ness. I find the cream sauce a bit too much though. It made the omelet too rich tasting. Next time, we better have ‘em hold the cream! Hehehe I love DARK toasted bread. I like my bread with a crunchy and toasted to golden brownness! So that is why we had our toast sent back for further browning! The grilled chicken with scrambled eggs was good too and of course the coffee =) I love coffee! If there is one thing in the world that I know I can’t live without –is this black liquid love of mine! =) By the time I remembered to take photos of our me…we already polished everything up! Ganyan kame ni Sal! Good girls talga we finish our food to the last morsel. Pag may natira---food must be bad! Hahahahah…So I just share with you the photo of what was left of our breakfast---empty coffee cups!
After that very satiating meal…we proceeded to going about out morning walk. We chatted. window shopped until finally the stores opened up. We had a pit stop at our favorite fruit shake shop…The Fruit Store. They sell fresh fruits, crepes, fondues and great shakes! The shake selection varies on the fruits in season. That morning I opted for a papaya-melon and Sal had the plum-banana. Plums seemed to be in season. There were a variety of red and black plums. I have never really tried fresh plums. I took a sip of Sal’s shake---I tasted more of banana! Hehehehe But it was good. When I had a vacation in boracay a year ago the papaya-melon was my favorite at Jonas. But The Fruit Store don’t put milk in the shakes so its don’t quite resemble the Bora version. Nonetheless, out thrists were indeed quenched and got full with it…at hindi na kame nakapag lunch)
Hunting in the Greenhills tiangge wasn’t as fun for us at it would have been. The previous week, we shopped in 168 mall, so we couldn’t buy anything in Greenhills since almost ALL of the items there were from 168 and of course we know the REAL price of the items! But still we don’t falter…and so we scrimmaged and scrimmaged until we were able to hunt for stuff with a good deal. I got yoga pants! Just a pair…but still triumphant at 150 bucks! Not bad. I remembered I had to scout fot a digicam. We saw the CANON ixus izoom. It caught my eye because it came in PURPLE! I love purple =) My pen is purple, my Oral B Arctica is purple, I bought an ID tag in purple…and a soapdish! Hahahha. I still haven’t made up my mind…so I let it hang over my head first.
We went to National bookstore in Anapolis bought some stuff and headed to DEC to buy some goodies to bring home. I bought ube hopia for my shobe shoy (she loves ube) and black mongo for me and my other sisters. Not to forget my dear Father, I got him Chinese kikiam! Hahaha SO that was that. Sal and me parted ways. I remembered I had to drop off some stuff at my friend’s office in Wilson. Its ‘padala’ for my dear dear friend lotte in DC. On my way home I saw this familiar styro icebox with the label “HOT MONAY W/ CHEESE (HMC)” Eureka! Hot monay with cheese is the new merienda option to be found in UP. During my time this wasn’t avaible….but during the past months of walking in UP…we met the HMC! Its warm bun like sweet bread and eaten with a slice of paper-thin cheese. As I tell my shobe—it ain’t HMC if its not thinly sliced QUES-O cheese! Hahahaha Isn’t it just wonderful to enjoy the simple treats like this? When I got home, I yelled out to my shobe—“M Home---SHOBE!!! I HAVE HMC!!!!!” With a blink of an eye she devoured it. My friend Holden fetched me in a few minutes and we headed to UCC in tomas morato. I was yapping to him about my day asking his opinion about the canon digi. He brought me home around 5-ish and when I passed through the kitchen…no sign of HMC! Hahaha Around 7 pm my friend Michael fetched me and we had dinner at Katre. It’s a Mediterranean restaurant tucked away on the side of the Afredo’s building, beside D’ Marks Pizza. It was a rainy evening and the place was packed! I saw several show biz personalities come in…Fanny Serrano…Gina Alahar…Pinky de Leon…Lorna and Rudy Fernandez. Baka may pres-con? I thought to myself hahaha. For dinner I had the pan-seared tuna with squid ink risotto topped with seviche and with cranberry pesto puree. It was really good. To end the evening we had coffee at bang. I personally, am not fond of like their coffee blend, so I just settled for the good ol Americano.
Friends with Money
A movie about four friends and the parallelism of thier individual lives. Jennifer Aniston plays Olivia, whose character embodies the epitome of a wretched middle aged single woman...having a pathetic job with no love life that is topped off with an obsession with a married man and a fling with a jerk! Catherine Keener plays, Christine, the unhappy wife of a stone hearted co-screen-writer husband. Then there is Jane (Frances McDormand) is the designer friend, married to a man who has to concede in accepting his true sexual orientation. And lastly, Frannie(Joan Cusack) with a seemingly happy and prosperous life but still struggles on with emotional distress of marriage and parethood. It is a sad movie about the ugly facets of life and tells about how being married and materially sufficied does not equate to happiness and contentment.
AHhhhh..what can I say after watching this movie?? Gosh ---that's sad! I didn't like the way in the end when Olivia succumed to dating this sort of loser guy who turned out to be a rich bum---was this supposed to be her saving grace???? For having been obsessed with a married man, who doesn't want to have anything to do with her anymore, then falling off dating this loser trainor Franny set her up with who isn't into her...then this?? Oh my! After seeing this movie...one would neither want to be married nor single!!! So rich or poor, married or single...we end up unhappy ei?! All the other friends have unhappy lives... Jane, filled with angst and married to a fag...Christine bound to an uncaring husband. In totally all their lives were miserable in their own way. (Maybe I should watch this movie again...I might have missed the ray of light they might be depicted here hehehe...or maybe not!) I say, we can end up this way if we choose to. I think life is how we make it. Single or married, rich or poor, if we decide to be satisfied and contented with what we have then we can be happy.
Is happiness really just a state of mind? I ask everyone out there...Oh just don't watch this movie please!!!
Coffee at UCC
After a hard workday, ruffled by the Pasay MMDA, I went home and practiced yoga. I find that among all forms of exercise, Yoga is the most relaxing, both for the body and mind. I feel more limber, though not thinner (hehehe) and I feel energized after my workout. I had coffee with my friend Holden at UCC Tomas. I like their coffee, though I find the house blend a bit too weak for my taste. I prefer strong and bold brews and mostly I like espresso based hot coffee preparations. Among I had a fun and relaxed time, chatting and all. (I borrowed the picture from the internet..hope the owner doesn't mind =) )
