Omakase

For Ma and Pa's anniversary, we went back to Ayala Triangle to try out the japanese resto Omakase. While Mama simply enjoyed the sushi boat, I found what we ordered too delicately flavored, too subdued for my taste. I hesitate to call it bland for my Pinoy taste but I do think all the dishes left me unimpressed. Maybe we should have ordered other stuff. My mistake it that I didn't order the tempura or the western dishes like the rib eye steak. Well, Ma wants to go back there on her birthday so we'll be giving Omakase another chance!

mother's day at North Park and father's day at Conti's

 I got so busy with my Davao post I forgot to post a few photos of our Mother's day lunch at North Park, a chinese restaurant. The food is always very good but a bit expensive for everyday meals. We order from this place at work when it's somebody's birthday.

Ampalaya con carne (P177). Jon forced himself to eat the bitter melon fear factor style. I should have taken a picture of his face!

Wow Davao! Part 3: Where to go and some thoughts

This eagle is named Sir Arny. He is the only eagle not cooped up in a cage but one of his talons is tied to his perch so he doesn't fly away.

Since Davao City is so huge, it would be better to hire a taxi for a whole day to take you around the tourist spots of Davao. 

Wow Davao! Part 2: Where we ate

Davao City is huge! It is said to be one of the largest cities in the world in terms of land area at 2,443.61 square kilometers. And 4 days are not enough to truly get to know this vast city, especially if you spend 2 days at the Pearl Farm. That's why I did not write authoritatively  "Where to eat in Davao", rather where we ate, though we did not have a bad meal anywhere there except at the airport.

We arrived at around 7pm and after checking in at Ponce Suites, the nearest restaurant I wanted to go to was Ah Fat, behind the Victoria Plaza mall.  Writer and blogger Margaux Salcedo recommended it. As I wrote on my Facebook post, the place has zero ambiance but the food was delicious! Ma says it's like a Binondo Chinese restaurant. No frills, no pretensions.

Steamed crab in garlic(P350)

Wow Davao! Part 1: Pearl Farm

I am so proud to say that I have finally gone to all the major islands of my country, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao!
I chose Davao for our trip this year because I got jealous of my balikbayan uncle and cousin who lived most of their life in the US but got to Mindanao before me, a Filipino who was just an hour and 40 minutes (by plane) away from Davao. Luckily, I got half-off my plane tickets and also got discounted gift certificates at Davao's very chic Pearl Farm.

Visita Iglesia 2011

The small snack before we left. Open faced grilled tuna and cheese sandwich. It wasn't supposed to be open-faced but someone got hungry and almost finished off all of the bread!

art shoes

here are some pics of my latest work---painted shoes. an officemate's gray pair  of vans got stained by bleach and he asked if i could paint over it. after much hemming and hawing, i finally got around to it and i think it looked quite nice.

 the ckient wanted bright colors for summer so i painted it all over with a light blue that looked so fresh and soothing to the eye, i actually was tempted to leave it like that! ... i did worry that it looked to kiddie so i made the guy on one shoe hold a san miguel beer bottle....

 ...and the right shoe has a sexy lady in a hot white bikini!

plus some nice details at the back like a sea turtle and some coconut trees...

Kanin Club: Deadly delicious

For my Papa's birthday, we went to one of the hottest places in the metro right now, The Ayala Triangle Garden which is right behind the Philippine Stock Exchange in Makati. It's said to be the fave hangout of all the yuppies in the business district. Fortunately, it is not crowded on Sundays and we were able to easily get a table at Kanin Club.

Big chowdown in Little Tokyo

 

In front of the entrance, a torii





For my birthday, we wanted someplace new so I decided to research a place I pass by everyday, a small cluster of authentic Japanese restaurants called  "Little Tokyo".

Twinx birthday at Aristocrat

Twinx treated us at Aristocrat  along Roxas Blvd. for her birthday. The last time we ate here was for Twinx's graduation  from university.