Monday, June 26, 2006

pix from the airport

here's some pictures early in the morning. ate annalisa's family and tita gina were there to say goodbye.

Last picture with them till who knows when

Tita Gina was awake all night helping Ate Annalisa pack all her stuff

Note the forced smiles--not only because we missed the girls already but also coz' we wanted to eat breakfast so badly and didn't like the food at the overpriced store in the airport

the girls have left for london

hi,
yesterday morning ate annalisa and the girls left for london. they've probably arrived by now so kuya nicky and his family are together again. good luck guys! we'll miss you!
and now a new feature on my blog: video from june 18! check it out by clickingthis link or the picture below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWEGOVF0j9A

Saturday, June 24, 2006

bye bye

Pa, Gela and me with Bunny, a pink puppet I gave the birthday girl

Went to Lucena last sunday to greet Gela a happy birthday. Sadly, we couldn't stay for the party because it would be at 5pm and the rest of the family had to go to school early the next day. But we had to visit because they'd be leaving on the 25th for the UK. We had lunch at Tita Gina's and also chatted with Kuya Alan thru Tita Gina's webcam and wi-fi! Gela, Francine and Ate Annalisa joined us and Gela had me spinning around with her till our heads hurt.

Ate Annalisa's Broiled chicken with mushroom stuffing. Huhuhu, we'll miss this.

Grilled squid stuffed with kamias

Sinigang na bangus

mmmm...Food from my childhood : Binatog is boiled white corn with grated coconut

Then it was off to Employees' for merienda as Tita Gina had her weekly prayer meeting.

Pa, Francine, Gela and Dana (partly hidden)

Gela in costume for her party

Francine thinking of her own English tea party sometime in the future

Hehehe, best shot of the day

Oh, here's Jon in his St. Scho uniform. Fetching, eh?

Monday, June 12, 2006

Our Father’s day



I know it’s on the 18th, but the family decided to avoid the crowds and celebrate Father's day a week earlier because we might not be home next week.
Twinx said we should try out Uva, a Filipino fusion restaurant in tres chic Greenbelt because her friend’s hubby was a chef there.(He was in Subic when we got there)

So after mass and a short trip to SM to buy Jon’s school uniform, we went to Makati before 11pm, which might have been a tad early as the waiter was still sweeping when we got there.

The place looks classy and expensive, which is standard for the location. I did notice that the menu, divided into 3 (kaon , which means ‘eat’, inom ‘drink’ and postre which is Spanish for ‘dessert’) looks rather crowded.
We chose 2 salads:


Chop chop (P220)is a mix of roasted chicken, chopped veggies with a mildly spicy chili dressing. It came with a warning: BIG SALAD and when we asked how big it was, the waiter said it would be good for 2 people, so we ordered another one, the Pinoy Caesar (P190) which had a garlic and tuyo (dried fish) dressing.

We were quite surprised when the salads arrived. Apparently, ‘good for 2’ meant 2 people who would eat nothing but salad! We weren’t able to finish these . Chop-chop was ok, but I found the tuyo dressing of the Pinoy Caesar too salty. Good thing I had a nice tall glass of their home-brewed iced tea(P75) which was a refreshing delight.

Those egg-shaped things are the salt and pepper shakers
The first dish to come out was the Lamb shank Kaldereta(P370). My sister adores lamb but I found it rather bland.

Next came the Pasta Pesca (P310) which was ok. Can't be too sure though, as it was consumed very quickly!

Then we had the grilled beef tenderloin (P299) which was the best dish of the lot. I also liked the fried, flavored rice that came with it.


For dessert, we shared the Oreos and Bailey’s ice cream(P80) . Recommended for alcoholics and sweet tooths alike! I liked it ,too!

Had to stop the family from devouring this before I could take a picture. Note the messy teaspoon
Of course, Uva is a fine dining resto with all those forks and knives and heavy plates (which made sharing meals difficult!) but I prefer the more informal atmosphere of Italianni’s and the simpler meals of Grilla in Antipolo.
After lunch, we went to the park near the Ayala museum.


There were lots of colorful fish in the pond which made us wish we took home the leftover rice from Uva so we could feed the fishies.

We again went to SM to buy a stationary bike for Twinx's bid for the Ms Universe crown.
Then we hurried home to feed the dogs. 2 of our dogs gave Papa their father’s day gifts by giving birth just a day apart from each other.

Macy (above) and Tiger(below). If you look closely, their pups look alike which means they had the same sperm donor! This explains the constant catfights these 2 have. When Macy gave birth I swear Tiger's eyes were saying "that bitch!"

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Caylabne Bay, Cavite


This is a review I originally contributed to yahoo travel last year.
I was so frustrated at not being able to go to Boracay, I scoured the net for a substitute. I do realize now that this place suffers in comparison.

The best feature of Caylabne Bay is that there were so few visitors when we got there so it was like we had our own beach resort. Maybe because it's not as accessible as other beaches in Cavite. It's roughly 90 minutes from Manila and you have to go around a mountain to get there. Maybe it's pricier than a ferry trip to Puerto Galera. But if you seek solitude but look for room service, too, this is the place for you.

Sidenote: we were staying here when a new pope was elected...

Formerly called Marbella, this place was once exclusively for friends of the late strongman, Ferdinand Marcos. Now, the place is open to the public as long as you can afford it. Go to their website but don't be turned off by the rates. Look for their promos like the 'barkada' package or 'coosome twosome' which are great deals. The beach is clean and so are the pools (the sand is white but nearer the sea it's darker... )

Too bad the bar by the pool is no longer in use, though. The main restaurant offers a great view of the water and the cliffs that surround the bay and the service is warm and pleasant. The food included in our package was bountiful but not spectacular. One does wonder why the food consisted mainly of chicken and pork. They did include one grilled squid but being so near the sea, you'd think they'd have more seafood.

They don't have cable but they do have in-house movies and mp3 playing on tv. The accommodations are excellent and the airconditoner is a godsend for visitors who have to brave the scorching heat to get here. At night you get a strong breeze outside that's perfect for walks on the beach or just relaxing and forgetting you have work waiting for you.

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