Mother's day 2006(as originally posted on yahoo group)

after months of unbearable heat (up to 38degrees) a typhoon came swooping down on us and had us all scurrying for cover under our flannel sheets. A neighbor's tree fell down and so did the sign in front of our subdivision. On Sunday, we went to Antipolo for our annual pilgrimage to the church of our lady of peace and good voyage.The place was packed! We then bought some cashews and suman. We were supposed to go to a resort there and i had already researched some nice places but the typhoon wrecked all my plans. Instead, we went to Grilla, a restaurant that had a fantastic view of the city.
The food was outstanding. We picked the mother's day package and got grilled fish, pork, chicken,etc. and we also had a rib eye steak which made me feel pity for vegetarians.Then we went home and snoozed for a bit. For dinner, we went toPosadas, near Sucat which had all sorts of food outlets and a magnificent view of Laguna Lake. There was a duo on the flute and cello playing some soothing pop music.The place was lovely.On anyother day it would have been cool. That day, the winds were strong and chilly. We had japanese food but since it was mother's day, there were lots of people and service was slow. But they did give my mom a bunch of roses. Then, Twinx who seemingly couldn't spend her money fast enough(galit sa pera), decided we should have coffee afterwards on the deck. Again, great ambience if you don't mind the storm in your face. Ma did get another rose and said we made her so happy that day, though she did hint that a complete line of make up would have been nice, too.hehehe!I do regret not bringing my camera, as the place is a great alternative to SM.

old spaghetti house--meager servings

Last Sunday, my sister Twinkle decided to treat the family because she had a big bonus or something. I didn't inquire much anymore after I heard the magic words:My treat. So, off we went to Festival mall as ma said there was a sale there. I spotted Old Spaghetti House and was reminded of a trip to Grilla next to Old Spaghetti in Antipolo that was a pleasantly surprising food trip. The place was a mix of an upscale Shakey's with their colorful glass lamps that hung overhead, and a touch of Italianni's.
The photos are small as I was caught without my camera so we had to make do with Twink's(ehem, Yasmin's) phone camera, which turned out rather apropriate.

The servings were quite small. All similarities to Italianni's stopped here. The food was ok but Ma commented that the dressing was quite meager. A customer at another table asked for some more dressing and was told she'd be charged extra for roughly 2 tablespoons of dressing. Twinx had the sun-dried tomato because she loves Italian food.
Papa got the Smoked Ribs. Please do not adjust your screens. That is indeed the serving size.
This was Jon's cordon bleu.Very good but also very miniscule. I think he downed this in one gulp.I've been longing for more rib-eye steak and ordered this. Grilla's was still better as this was small and not as tender.(maybe overcooked)

We decided to order lasagna as we were still a bit hungry. Twinx said this was more of a date place, that's why the servings were so small.

Estancia hotel, Tagaytay

The following was a review i contributed to yahoo travel last year

Estancia:worth the trip
Last Visit:June 2005 Twinx and Jon by the pool

Me and my family have been to Tagaytay lots of times but this is the first time we spent the night in the city. I had read a review about Estancia Hotel and about how it's a great place for a weekend stay because it had a great view of Taal Volcano a jacuzzi, and 2 swimming pools to swim in if you wanted an escape from the summer heat. Here's a tip: if you're a couple and you don't mind a fan room( it gets real cool in the evenings anyway), get the nipa hut. It looks so cute with all the bamboo walls and floors that really give you a local feel.
Our room was quite spacious

If you're going with your family of 5, and you're looking to save, don't let them make you book 2 executive rooms( made of boring cement walls). Ask to be in just one room. The queen sized beds are good enough for 2 adults each and they have a pull-out sofa bed for the 5th person. The executive rooms do come with a TV, phone, ref and bathtub. Also thought they say check in is at 2PM, they will allow you to come in as early as 8AM to use the facilities and even check-in if there's a room available.

What I liked:

1)Swimming pool and jacuzzi while enjoying the view of Taal Volcano and Taal Lake;

Twinx in jacuzzi with her 'Camay' smile

2) all the cute nipa huts set apart from each other --perfect for honeymooners;

The entrance to our cottage. Note the faux wood railing

3)location--it's so near all the great restaurants and other places of interest. There's a Catholic chapel,a Japanese peace garden, a butterfly park, a popular restaurant called Leslie's which has sumptious bulalo and lots of ambiance.

What I didn't like:

1) It's rather pricey(for me) and no breakfast was included. Their bar/restaurant offers Php220(roughly $4) breakfasts which they should try lowering because more reasonably priced places are nearby. Food and drinks are not allowed. A small bottle of water from the ref is $1. We went out of the hotel because it's only 25c at the local store.

2) The pools aren't heated so there is no night swimming--which would've been perfect.

Inside we're shivering! The water was cold!

3)The place is showing signs of age. It's more than 10 years old and some of the facilities are rather run down.

4) Something beyond their control: the cicadas were just so noisy in the afternoon! Fortunately the executive room is airconditioned so we could shutthe windows. And at night the cicadas quieted down.

The place is huge and practically deserted.

But all in all, a truly relaxing stay well worth the trip!

Why we love Italianni's

Ma and Pa celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary by treating us to lunch at Italianni's, our default celebration resto in Makati. Our love affair with this New York style Italian restaurant started when ma got a gift certificate for a free appetizer at this place. We had never been there and we were afraid it would be too expensive. The price was rather stiff but the magic words that turned us into fans were 'our meals are meant for sharing'. That was a concept we Filipinos shared with Italians. No formalities about eating only what you ordered. Here, we make sure we don't order the same stuff so we can all taste something new and share everything with everybody just like we would when eating at home. We also like the fact that they offer us complimentary foccacia bread and olive oil while we wait for our meal(which led Jon at 12 years old to exclaim: libre to?!*munch,munch,munch*). Sometimes, when the crowds are huge and we have to wait to be seated, customers are offered iced tea or water.
Here's the appetizer that started it all: Spinach and artichoke formaggio, which we order everytime because it's Jon's favorite.
For a change we decided to skip our other usual orders like caesar's salad and try something new:
I forgot the name of this salad but it was a mix of greens,fruits and cheeses.
Then came the meaty lasagna made in the real italian style---meaning sour, not sweet tomato sauce. This meal is so filling, your stomach will groan long after you've left the place.

My favorite meal was the seafood risotto. I first had risotto at a small homey resto in Boracay and I can''t have enough of it. The thick slab of grilled salmon on top was so succulent and fresh but I felt the serving of risotto was not enough. We loved it so much I have downloaded recipes to make the meal myself.

sex ed

i'm supposed to draw a cartoon about the sex education class the deped(dept. of education) is trying to introduce to the public school system. the program is being opposed by the catholic bishops because it would promote promiscuity daw.
Here are my sketch ideas that weren't approved by my editor

funny

this is something i just saw on youtube

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

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?

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!"