WELCOME 2012! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I woke up early to prepare the food and other things we need to celebrate NEW YEAR'S EVE. The new year always, always excites me!

It will get so busy as the day progresses so let me just make a quick but sincere and really excited and happy greeting here in my blog. :)

Thank You, God, for all the blessings of 2011. Lessons learned, experiences gained, loved with all my heart, happiness earned. Life well lived. I am looking forward to another wonderful year. Thank You for providing me great family and friends I can count on.

Welcome 2012! Cheers! God, let the good times roll! Thank You! I'm looking forward to my breakthrough year this 2012! :)

I wish everyone a truly fulfilling and happy 2012! A peaceful and joyful year ahead of us. May all the desires of our hearts come true according to God's will.

God bless!

*Image from this website: Photoming.

Yabu, The House of Katsu

I met with my two college best friends yesterday afternoon after my business in one of the offices in Ortigas. I was really looking forward to this day because I haven't been with my friends for several months now. We have been so busy for the past months...well, throughout the year, that we cannot find a date when the three of us are available. The last time I met with one of them was around April this year.

This meet-up has in fact been postponed I think twice already. We've talked about this since mid-November and finally it pushed through, thanks to the holiday break. :) We were supposed to go to Serendra but I suggested we try Yabu, The House of Katsu. I have been reading a lot of good reviews about this restaurant - from the warm ambiance to the good service and the great food. Also, I have not been to SM Megamall's Atrium for a looooong time.

I must say I like the interior of the restaurant. I like the soft, warm light which gives some touch of intimacy among groups of diners but it does not make you feel stiff and too business-like. It's cozy-laid back as a matter of fact. I like the murals on the left side of the dining area - kind of cartoonish focusing on Japanese characters and katsu. Next time I will take pictures of the mural as well as the facade.

The service is prompt too. Someone hurriedly went up to me smiling just as I was about to enter the restaurant. This gave me the feeling of being so welcome as a special guest. We didn't have to wait long for our food. Maybe it's only about 5 minutes. The food servers are also very polite and fast.


I have been eating katsu dishes for years but I don't exactly know what it means. I know the food is breaded and fried which are also two descriptions I find in Google. It also said katsu is a shortcut of katsuretsu which means cutlet.

Katsu sets all come with miso soup, shredded cabbage, about three slices of fruits (watermelon and pineapple). Katsu sauce will also be served where you can dip your pork or chicken cutlets - toasted sesame seeds to mix with katsu sauce. I must say the chicken katsu can stand by itself even without the katsu sauce.


My friend ordered chicken katsu. I tried it and boy, it's soooo tender. Next time this is what I will order. I love the Japanese rice too - sticky, soft and chewy.


Chicken Katsu, 190 g, about P250 (I missed the exact price)
The other friend ordered Rosu Katsu Curry Set. I am not into curry so I passed on this.


Rosu Katsu Curry Set, P295
I ordered Rosu Katsudon which is very tasty. I love eggs so I love that this is covered with lightly scrambled eggs.


Rosu Katsudon, P265
All the servings are quite huge for one person. Is it value for money? I must say it is. So far, it's the most tender meat cutlets I have ever tasted. Pork and chicken are covered with panko (Japanese bread crumbs) which make the meat really crispy but very tender and juicy once you have taken a bite of them.

I will definitely go back here with my family even if it's far from our house. It's that good.

Great place, great food, great friends - I am very grateful about all these. :)


To my friends, thank you for the gift of friendship. :) I love you, girls!


***More food sharing at Picture Clusters and Food Trip Friday.

Symphony of Lights and Sounds, Ayala Triangle

Finally it pushed through. We have been planning to go to Ayala Triangle to witness the play of lights and sounds but almost always there's a glitch in our plans. Either it rains or there is something that needs to be attended to, mostly husband's work. Since this is the last week of the symphony and husband has no work yesterday, we proceeded last night. Thank God the weather was good. It's a bit chilly in fact which we love.

There's traffic from Ayala Avenue going to Tower 1 of Makati Stock Exchange. This serves as the parking area for Ayala Triangle. I appreciate it that even if we lined up for a few minutes, it was organized. They don't let cars get in unless there are already vacant spaces for incoming cars. We were able to spot parking immediately and then off we went to see the lights and hear the sounds.

It was beautiful. My husband captured a few minutes of it in video. Of course we took a lot of pictures from the two cameras I bought and from our cell phones. Haha. Talk about not getting enough.

We arrived at a little past eight in the evening. The lights and sounds are already playing when we got there. We had to take out our food from CBD (Cheesesteaks, Burgers and Drinks) so we can watch the last full show at 9 PM.

We had fun! A park turned into a sea of lights for about 20 minutes. I guess it's longer for the last show. It's good to note that the park is clean. The people are not throwing wastes just anywhere. There's only one cleaner which I saw and didn't see much trash bins but just the same, the park was clean. Also, I didn't see much security guards going around. Just one Or two I guess but anyway, it was a peaceful, lovely night. :)

As expected there were a lot of people but towards the end of the show, the crowd gets thinner which is good for our picture taking.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2012, HERE WE COME! :)

Chef Tatung's

I thought I couldn't make it to our dinner date. My friends and I scheduled this two weeks ago I think. I suddenly had an appointment on the night of the date we are going to have our dinner. My appointment was in Makati and our meet-up will be at Quezon City. Oh.

I was done with the meeting at almost 8PM. Luckily I was able to get a ride fast and I was able to locate Tatung's easily. Thanks to the cab driver for being nice while we were looking for the street. Simple blessings. :)

I was not able to take any pictures of the foods as they were all half-way with all the dishes. But I was glad I proceeded even if I was tired already. I just have to meet my friends.

Tatung's is a house converted into a restaurant. It has a classic Filipino theme into it. It looks cozy and intimate with soft lights in some parts of the dining area.




I love the food served to us - Chicken Sisig Lettuce Wrap for our appetizer, for the main dishes - Tamarind-glazed Butterflied Tilapia, Honey-glazed Slow Roasted Pork Belly, Bam-I. The white rice was good too. I think it's jasmine. We had our dessert - coffee and the Warm Chocnut Chocolate Cake which was so divine!

I will go back there with family and friends! I love it there!


With Chef Tatung


Happy Holidays! I love my friends! :)

Thank You

For a change, let me say this.....

My Daughter is a Lady

I write this with a little sentimentality.

My daughter is a grown-up. She's thirteen I know but slowly I am realizing she is not a little girl anymore. I feel a tug on my heart thinking about this.

We were talking about buying her dress for the Year End Thanksgiving the other week. I was thinking our talk will linger here, on what style she wants this time, will it be a top and bottom ensemble or a dress. She suddenly mentioned she said she also wants a dress for their school's Xmas party. I thought it was just a fancy thought but she was serious about it. She wants something like outfits of Taylor Swift, soft and flowing. Oh. Well, even then during her recital and practicum at Center for Pop, Taylor Swift has always been her inspiration with some of her outfits.

Another tell-tale sign that my daughter is feeling like a lady already is her want for shoulder bags. We were scouting for her varsity jacket when we passed by the bags section. I was looking around for a nice bag. Little did I know that she spotted something she liked. She even touched it and said it looks nice. She can use it for her church. Awww, the mother in me said I will buy her that for her use in our Thanksgiving Day at the church.

God, my daughter is not anymore all about sneakers and jeans and shirts and boyish tops like how it was just a few months ago. She is now in touch with her female side. She is turning into a lady.

Yesterday we fit a lot of clothes and bought her V-jacket and her dress for church this weekend. We will go back to buy her dress for the school party because she is really bent on wearing a skirt for a change as she say it.

Well I need to accept this change. From now on, girlie stuffs are included in my list whenever I think of updating her clothes. It's just the start I know. I need to be sensitive to my daughter's needs, her needs in every way.