Merci beaucoup, Kusina Habana!

I was having such a crappy and painful day yesterday when Mommy Therese suddenly buzzed me on YM. She was asking for our office address. (Thank the Lord I was able to comprehend that amid my dizzy spells.) I wondered why she would want it, but I gave her the address anyway. Then a few hours later, I discovered why. It was such a nice surprise. Yes, I got a really cute and yummy surprise from Mommy Therese and her Kusina Habana gang yesterday. Louise and Nheil (or Nyl ) delivered the pretty red boxes themselves. ( na shy gud ko, haha) Oh yeah, Ley got one, too.  And yup, they’re pastries… chocolate cupcakes to be exact. They looked so cute that I was giggling inside like a little child when I saw the boxes, more so when I peeked inside.

Have a look-see,…

The “oh so pretty” boxes

A Wedding in Davao City

I attended my first, and I suspect will be the only, Muslim wedding last month. It was also my first visit to Davao City. (Thank you so much for the invite, Ram. ) Anyway, the wedding was quite colorful, in every sense of the word. I could not stop myself from looking around and staring at either the decor or the pretty dresses of the guests. I so like the traditional dresses of the women that I saw. They were just so colorful and elegantly beautiful. And the food? Well, the food was absolutely scrumptious. I kept shoveling heaps of that chicken dish into my mouth until there was no more room in my stomach for anything else. Well all right, I might be exaggerating a bit, but I was not kidding when I said that the chicken dish was delicious. The fish was also interesting and the dessert was yummy, too. The wedding cake even had about five rounds or more and one had a small replica of a mosque on top. It was quite pretty… even if it was painfully yellow. LOL! We also got a special treat – some special pastries that the groom’s family traditionally brings to the bride’s house brought by men called “damak”. (or is that the name of the pastries?…I forgot. ) Well anyway, this post is over a month late but since this is sort of just a sequel to a post I wrote in my other blog, I’ll just keep it short.  The place was beautiful, the guests were all pretty (including us… haha), the couple was glowing, the food was great, and the ceremony was lovely.

And here  are the pictures of food and everything else. . .

*The Food*

The wedding cake

Exotic Food from Out of Africa

I haven’t been able to do any updates lately, not because I didn’t have anything to post but because I was swamped… with work and a trip to Davao City for a friend’s wedding. So sorry, guys! You would have known about this cute little place that serves really exotic but nevertheless delicious food a little earlier if I had posted this sooner. Well, here it is at last!

Revisiting Postrio

I haven’t been to this place in a while. And so when Mommy Therese (mao na akong nickname sa iya…hope she doesn’t mind )asked where we could go for coffee and dessert after dinner, all I could think of was Postrio. I used to visit their BTC branch for their yummy pastries almost every day because they have such pretty food. Yes, one of the main things I like about their pastries is the presentation. I don’t even remember how they delicious, or not, they were. All I remember is that whenever I visit their shop and I look around, almost all of their food look so delicious, as if they were calling out to you, enticing you to take a bite. Sounds a bit kinky, but I’m serious. Their pastries do look pretty. Anyway, when we went there, we bought four desserts and all of us shared them. And oh yeah, they were all Mommy Therese’ treat, too. However, since I was already full by the time we got there, I only took nibblets from all four. I can’t really say they were all good. I only liked three out of the four desserts that we got (the two because of the ice cream and the one because of the fruits… shallow, I know! ).  But the four sure did look all pretty. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember the names so I would only be putting the ratings. Bon appetit!

At Red Kimono with Mommy Therese

I just met this pretty amazing mommy and her name is Therese. She has her own business and she has a cute little boy who reminds me so much of my nephew… and she has another tyke on the way, too! Not to mention, she just treated some strangers, albeit witty ones (daw… hehehe!) to dinner last week at this newly opened Japanese restaurant at the Ayala Terraces.  Told you she was amazing. She’s actually one of Ley’s MCPB fans and she liked his site so much, she invited him to dinner just so she could meet him in person before she goes back to the U.S.  (Sabit ra ko kay shy daw si Ley… hmmm, a big “daw”) Yes, she lives there, but she’s a 100% Filipina, and a pretty one at that.

A Deliciously Unplanned Dinner At Red Ribbon

Yes, I am still one of the great… procrastinators, that is. Haha! You see, my friends and I had this dinner a week ago, last weekend to be exact. We went to Red Ribbon at SM City and had a little pseudo payday dinner there. I have always been a fan of this shop because I love their pastries. Actually, I am in love with anything that has sugar in it. You could say I have a major sweet tooth… or several sweet teeth? (that doesn’t sound right… *pained look*) Anyway, I have been eating sporadically here for years but I have only written about one of their cakes and so I thought it’s high time I give the place a proper post. Well then, here it is.

MCPB Celebration at The Terraces: Mooon Cafe

Last month, a friend’s internationally popular blog (*wink wink) reached a million in stats. Happy Million Hits, MCPB! Yay! And because we are such good friends, we persuaded him to commemorate the event with a celebratory dinner. Yes, Leylan of My Cebu Photo Blog got the much awaited millionth visit from fans. I’m not kidding, I really mean “fans”. He was so excited about the whole thing that he actually told me about it the day before it happened. Psychic? I’m not so sure about that. Hahaha! Well anyway, when we decided to have dinner, it was that time of month when a working girl (or boy) is on her (or his) last twenty-peso bill or something.  So to avoid “mamokong” a few days before our payday, we all agreed to volunteer Glenn’s plastic again for the celebratory dinner. Merci Beaucoup, Glenda! There we were, in our office, waiting for 6pm and when it did arrive, we still have not decided where to have dinner. We decided to wing it and just convene at the currently popular The Terraces in Ayala. Oh yeah, I forgot my camera (again!) and so I had to go back home and get it, before I was able to set foot in Ayala. On my way to the mall, the group informed me that they were waiting outside the ala Mexican place “Mooon Cafe”, 

A Date at The Old Spaghetti House

Once a year, our (Vet’s and mine) lovely insurance agent, Mademoiselle Ludy, invites us to dinner to just say “Howdy?” I swear, she is one of the most charming, talkative, assertive, and well-poised people that I know … and I know a lot. Yes. Surprisingly, I have a lot of friends despite my seemingly unfriendly demeanor. Hehehe! Did I mention she was charming? Yup, she can charm you into buying several policies at one time (that is, if you could afford it) without you realizing it until after you get the bills. Hahaha! No wonder she’s such a successful agent. And it doesn’t hurt that she can bluntly tell you about your flaws in the nicest way possible that you wouldn’t even dream of being offended. I kid you not! Personally, I think she’s a walking marvel… a dynamo, albeit a cute petite one.   [pictures of food and peeps below]

Well this year, Miss Ludy invited us to dinner at the Old Spaghetti House in SM City Cebu.

Chows in Famous Singapore

Two of my friends recently took a short trip to Singapore. Yes, I might have mentioned that in my previous post. All right, I mentioned that Vet was about to go on a trip to Singapore in my previous post. And yes, I was jealous… just a teensy bit. Anyway, when Ley heard that Vet was going to visit the famous city with the Merlion, he happily mentioned that Satchmo would like to be their tiny and quiet travel mate. Vet laughed and just nodded. She likes that wanderlust-stricken cow. It was also around that time when Satchmo invited himself that I remembered to ask Vet to take pictures of food trips they were going to have in Singapore, so I would have something new to post. My budget has been losing its race with my debts these past few months that I rarely find extra money to eat out. Hence, the lack of posts. So to remedy that particular problem, I have been rummaging my old photo albums of old food pictures that I might not have used… and I’ve also decided to ask friends to take food pictures for me so I can write food reviews for them. Unfortunately, I cannot mentally link my mind to theirs while they’re eating (hmmm… that would be quite a strange power now, wouldn’t it?) so the ratings in those would be theirs and not mine…naturally.

Now, this picture was taken by Vet at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Predictably, the pasta is Vet’s while the sandwich with the colorful salad on the side is Dencio’s.

Pasta [Vet's Rating: /10] Dennis said this one’s an 8…or maybe a 7.5…because it’s not sweet daw. Apparently, he wasn’t satisfied with just the sandwich. Kidding! :p

Sandwich with Greens [Dennis' Rating: 8.5/10] He says he just remembered that he couldn’t taste any turkey from that sandwich…it was supposed to be a turkey sandwich diay? hehe!

Dinner at the New Roma Mia

It is always nice to revisit places you’ve been to, especially if they serve delicious Italian food. Yes, Vet, Ley, and I went and had dinner at the new Roma Mia at The Terraces – Ayala. I had some mighty craving for Italian food after our annual company outing yesterday and since it was my credit card’s “cut off” date, I willingly volunteered my plastic for the bill – a fact that Ley was more than willing to ditto. LOL!

So after quitting the bus, we made a short stop at the office so Vet could empty her memory card for her trip to Singapore the next day ( I’m here, green with envy) and I could use the bathroom.  A few minutes later, we went straight to Ayala Terraces to look for the new Roma Mia, thankfully we found the place quite easily (million thanks to their directories posted all over the place) and immediately found seats. By this time, I had a raging headache, (I suspected it was because of hunger) and Vet was impatiently writing our orders herself to save time. Yes, “Vet the Assertive” strikes again – and I mean that in a good way Vet ha.   When Vet gave our orders to the counter (yes, she brought the paper to the counter herself. When I told you she was assertive, I was not kidding. Hehe!), Ley was looking at the pictures I took at the outing while I was reading a book I have been trying to finish for weeks. It’s actually the last book of the Den of Shadows, but I got kind of bored and so now I have to force myself to finish it. Well, back to the dinner. About ten minutes after Vet gave our order, my potato wedges arrived, and a few more minutes after that, the rest of the food arrived, albeit sporadically, especially with Vet’s penne. She suspected the waiters forgot her order and so we reminded one of the waiters about it. Now, about the food, I guess you could never go wrong with Italian food because we were sporting huge smiles after dinner while rubbing our full stomachs at the same time. Haha.  At least I didn’t order too much this time. I think I have since learned how to control my impulse to order anything that sounds delicious on the menu. Thank Zeus!

Well, here were our pretty and equally delicious food.

My Pomodoro in Spaghetti [Rating:10/10]