Our Saturday in Pictures

We slept later than usual since it was a Saturday.  We are looking forward to this day because it was our date for a movie, yes, The Twilight Saga:  Breaking Dawn 2.  My daughter and I trooped to a mall near our place and secured tickets for a mid-afternoon showing.  There were still long lines but manageable.

Still got a few minutes to kill so we did what we usually do.  Jeje time for mother and daughter. Strike a pose beside the movie's standee and in front of the huge mirror in one of the walls of the mall's tenant. :)

Taters popcorn and chips are our usual companion inside the theater.  I opt for barbecue flavor while my daughter goes for cheese flavored chips. We prefer iced tea and bottled water for our drinks. All set to see our movie once we have these little perks.

Above, my daughter lining up at Taters and posing at the mall's Xmas picture corner.

After watching the movie, we availed of the cinema's tie-up with Gelatissimo.  This tie-up has been on-going like forever. Haha. But I am not complaining.  I love Gelatissimo especially the belgian chocolate flavor. It's actually "buy one scoop and get one scoop". But come to think of it, that is not quite right. Coz I bought three scoops for my daughter, two scoops of chocolate mint and a scoop of belgian chocolate but the free is only one scoop of my choice of flavor.  But well, that's a hundred bucks I got for free if I am not mistaken. I will definitely clear this up when we get back. 

We dropped by Fully Booked to check if the last book from the Pretty Little Liars series is available.  Lucky daughter, the bookstore has stock.  She is on her 9th book now, Twisted, but one of the books seemed to be misplaced in another shelf, Flawless.

My daughter wanted a smaller bag which she can use on some days when there are only a few things she needs to bring to school. It was a pleasant surprise to know that the department store's bags section is on 50% off! We bought her a new cute bag. Next time I'll buy us both satchel bags. :)

Last stop was Classic Savory.  Since my daughter and I were still full from the day's lunch, popcorn/chips, gelato, I just decided to order pancit bihon guisado to go at Savory.  I wanted pasta but since it will be a Sunday  Pasta for me, I skipped that. I had a sudden craving for pancit bihon. My husband is not fond of pancit from Savory but I am. One order costs P195.00 and it's good for two to three persons already.  :)

Till next bonding time. :)

Happy Birthday, Hubs!

It was the husband's birthday a few days back.  We decided to spend it by going to church first and attend our worship service.  Give thanks to the Almighty for the year that was in my husband's life and another year (bound to be fruitful) He has given to him.  :)

We dropped by the salon before heading out to have our dinner.  It was supposed to be me and daughter that will have our hair regimen but the hubs decided to have a haircut too eventually lured by the salon staff to have his hair dyed. Haha. My husband's hair has always been light brown especially when he was younger.  White hair are all over in different parts of his hair now.  This was his first time to have a hair color.  The result was actually good.  He looks his age, as a matter of fact, even younger.

My daughter and I were finished ahead of the husband's hair dye so while waiting, we did our usual photo opp. 

Since it's halloween, the salon's staff were dressed up and made up to be monsters from the dark. Haha. The fun part was the customers' participation of picking the top 3 scariest.

The salon staff gamely posed as we picked the top three scariest. 

The renovated salon has a frap bar, what do you know.  The husband and the daughter bought theirs but I know we will be eating out so I declined.  I had a sip from my daughter's cookies and cream frappuccino and yes, it tastes good just like how it is in other coffee bars.

We stopped by Tous les Jours to buy the husband his birthday cake.  I've been wanting to buy here and now is the perfect occasion. A few days back my daughter and I have already checked what we will buy. Wow, it's delicious! I like it because it's not too sweet but the icing is so creamy and the belgian chocolate, just divine.

Dark Glaze Chocolate from Tous les Jours, the husband's happy birthday cake. :) 

Eating time finally.  I was starving! We had our dinner buffet at Yakimix.  Good thing there was not much people. There were some vacant tables when we arrived.

We enjoyed the buffet at Yakimix especially the Korean bbq we cooked. :) 

I was not able to get a picture of the buffet table and our food because we were all busy eating. We were full if I must say that after just a plate or two of the different kinds of food we availed.

Just  a few notes about Yakimix, SM North EDSA:
1.  Food:  Good. The buffet for dinner is at P620 without drinks. Additional P75 per head for iced tea.
2.  Customer Service:  Fine. Nothing note worthy but staff were efficient.
3.  Cleanliness:  This is where the restaurant should improve. The wash room's cleanliness can do a lot of improvement considering the restaurant was not full at the time we were there.  There was also no tissue available.  The back area going to the kitchen, where their buss window is located needs a lot of sprucing up.  Makes me wonder how is it inside the kitchen.

*I was searching for the official web page of Yakimix but there seems none so I settled for the link I had above.

Will I go back with my family and friends? Well, this is my second time and there will be a next time and a next and a next....  I just hope they do better in cleanliness.

Anyway, it was a whole afternoon till night time that we spent out.  We were tired but happy, of course. :)

Happy birthday again to the hubs! :)))

Clowning Around

My family and I attended a birthday party a few weekends ago. The boy turned one year old and he is the son of my husband's friend. We trooped to Max's Restaurant to celebrate with them. There is a portion in the program where a clown entertains the kids (and adults as well). I think this it one of the clowns I enjoyed watching because of his punch lines. His jokes are really funny! My guess is he is also a stand-up comic. :) The kids love him!


Theme: Jokester

I love the cupcakes! Had one bite though. Too much sugar does not go well with my goal of 112 lb by October 2012. :))


Of course, a birthday party (or any other fun gathering) will not be complete without the photobooth. Guests look forward to this and try their funny poses or try putting on assorted costumes. :)


Happy weekend!

ArmyNavy Burger + Burrito

We proceeded to Harbour Square after going to World Trade Center for the Manila International Autoshow. There were a lot of dining choices but they were the usual fares so we opted for the ArmyNavy restaurant. Been seeing this restaurant but haven't tried yet.

The interior is very simple, no frills - tables and chairs with no back rest like how we see them in the movies in military training cafeterias. It's meant for fast food of course. It's still comfortable if you ask me.

The menu in their sintra board is very easy to understand. It doesn't look cluttered. It's the same way with their website - ArmyNavy Burger + Burrito. Navigation is user friendly.

My husband loves TexMex cuisine so definitely he ordered for Steak Burrito. He said it's good and really filling.


Steak Burrito, P175, Libertea, P75
My daughter, as always, looked for her comfort zone (plus the fact that she was starving, it was not time to experiment on other food on a restaurant she visited for the first time) - fried chicken and rice. ArmyNavy calls it Fearless Fried Chicken. It tasted fine, nothing grand. It's crispy yes, but it's like your fried chicken at home. It's not oily though.

I was not able to take a picture of the drinks but my daughter ordered for Vanilla Milkshake which she said tastes good. My husband ordered for iced tea. He liked it because it was not the usual powdered tea which fast food prepares. The restaurant calls it Libertea.


Fearless Fried Chicken, P165, Vanilla Milkshate, P99
I had my Cheese Quesadilla. I love it! It goes well with the salsa. It's not like other salsa which are quite sour it overpowers the taste of the quesadilla/taco/tortillas. This one blends so well with the soft taco. Next time I will order the Steak Quesadilla.


Cheese Quesadilla, P105
So the ambiance is fine, the food is good, the speed of service is alright. Maybe we waited for about 10 minutes. There was one table ahead of us I think.

How about the customer relations? Oh, this is were ArmyNavy should improve. It's self-service alright and there isn't much customer interaction except when you order. I was at the counter waiting for the cashier, which was nowhere in sight, to take my order. The pantry crew just looked at me and continued to do their task. There was not even a slight acknowledgment of a customer's presence waiting for her order to be taken.

Then the cashier (I also think he is the manager) finally appeared in the counter area to take my order. There was no greeting, no smile. I just had to relay my order and he punched it away. I asked if there is wifi. He said yes. I had to ask for the password. Without saying anything he wrote down the password in my receipt. There was no suggestive selling as you would experience in other restaurants.

The wifi is fast, plus points for ArmyNavy. We were able to connect right away. The wifi name though is not ArmyNavy. We just guessed from among the wifis available and the password worked.

Connected!
But they could really polish some customer relations. I don't mean to be treated like a royalty. A sincere smile, a simple greeting will do a lot for paying customers. Or are they living up to the image of how it's supposed to be in an army camp? Pure business. I say my order, I pay, you give me my food. Done. Haha. Every business requires customer relations. It won't hurt, try it.

Oh yes now I remember as I post this, I saw one of the staff talking to two customers who seem to be jolly and he was really entertaining the guests. Therefore I conclude, the counter person and the pantry crew might just be having a bad night. :)

Going Around Manila International Autoshow 2012

We trooped to the World Trade Center last Sunday to watch the exhibit of cars, the Manila International Autoshow. If you ask me, I was more interested in our family bonding time more than the cars I was going to see. :)

Anyway, this is the second year that we attended the car show. I remember back in college my boyfriend, now my husband, go to Transhow, another transport show, every year. He introduced me to this kind of event. Obviously he loves cars. :)

Disclaimer: I don't know much about cars but I do appreciate their beauty. This is one of the first cars that I saw and love. It's cute with its color green, stripes and all - a minicooper.


My dream car is a sleek Mercedez Benz. It's elegant, spells success but does not give an air of stiffness. Let me visualize: I'm going to have you, dear Mercedez Benz, sooner than later. Haha.


My daughter and I love vintage cars too especially their colors. The Beetle is such a classic and it's yellow color suits it so much. My husband took different photos of cars and their sound system and their machines. He also took the opportunity to have our picture taken with Rusell Swift. I undrestand he is a precision driver. My husband showed me a YouTube video of this guy driving his way...I mean parking his way in between two cars with very little space to move around.



We looked for a place to eat and found ourselves at Army Navy Burger in Harbor Square. That was our first time in the said restaurant. My feedback on the said dining place on a separate blog post.


It's been crazy busy for all of us especially with husband's schedule so I grab every opportunity I can grab so the three os us can go out together as a family. We spent around two hours there. It was exhausting but like my daughter said it was all fun. :)

Home Cooked

My family attended my aunt's 61st birthday celebration a few weeks ago. Everyone looks forward to events like this because we rarely see each other. I miss them and as expected, there were lots of updating from each other. I didn't notice the time. It was already 12 midnight when we left my aunt's house.

My aunt is a great cook and I think two of her children got her talent in the kitchen. I eagerly anticipate seeing my cousins and my niece and yes, the food that they will be serving. Nothing unusual or grand but they really cook well.

Three of my favorites from my aunt's menu are chicken cordon bleu, spaghetti with meatballs and biko!

I was so inspired by how my cousin prepared this that I tried doing this last weekend I think. She said she just followed what she saw in YouTube. That's the problem with me. I don't have the patience like that when it comes to cooking. Anyway, the appearance of what I did was nothing like this but taste is okay. I have to start somewhere, y'know.


Chicken cordon bleu
And I thought I have mastered spaghetti. Well, compared to this, a big NO. They only added Italian sauce and added meatballs with basil but I don't know why it tastes sooo good.


Spaghetti with Meatballs
Oh yes, my all time favorite dessert, biko! I love this!


Biko
I don't have their talent for cooking but I'm working on it. I have been working on it and will continue to work on it. I don't surrender easily. :)

*All pictures courtesy of my cousin posted in my aunt's Facebook.

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

Stacy's, Capitol Greenstreet

We just had a long weekend in the Philippines, the first for the year, because of the Chinese New Year which fell on a Monday. The family attended two events on Sunday, a christening and my aunt's birthday, so our scheduled dinner on a Sunday was put off for Monday night. I urged them to try Stacy's.

I have read about Stacy's and recently, one of the celebrities I follow in Twitter and Facebook had their picture taken at the restaurant. It is such a dainty restaurant. If you are familiar with Sonja at Bonifacio High Street, it's like a bigger version of it. I researched some more and found out prices are very reasonable and menu is actually a mix of Filipino, American, and Italian dishes. And they have cakes! :)

This if for free. A cup of marshmallows, popcorn, and pink pretzels. I love the cup. I hope they give it away. Or peg for a certain amount, as long as it's reasonable, I'd take it.


Share popcorn while waiting for the food to be served.
My daughter ordered Homebaked Chicken Parmesan which she devoured up to the last piece. She loves food with cheese generally.


Home Baked Chicken Parmesan, P215
She partnered it with hot choco. Hot drinks come with a cookie I suppose because my husband's coffee has one too.


Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows, P95
I do not take rice often so I settled for the Spicy Lemon Shrimp Scampi which comes with a soft wheat bread with garlic and butter spread. I love it! I also like it that the food server asked me if I do not like my scampi spicy. It's as if she read my mind. I do not like spicy foods. I was about to say to just make it mild.


Spicy Lemon Shrimp Scampi, P215
My husband had Mobster's Meal which has sausage and a mix of stir fried vegetables. This one's really spicy. By the way, the rice is molded in a heart shape. Nice.


Mobster's Meal, P215
For dessert I ordered Devil's Cake. I love the chocolate filling with chocolate bits.


Devil's Cake, P125
My husband ordered Cafe Americano which perfectly matches the cake we shared. My daughter really has no sweet tooth so it's only husband and I which consumed the cake. Good thing. :)


Cafe Americano, P80
Oh yes, the change comes with butter ball. I do not see butter ball in the grocery. I thought this is phased out a long time ago. :)


I love the interior of the restaurant. My husband loves it too as he is so fond of the 50s. It looks cozy, dainty and just so much fun.

Cuteness!


I love the pink ref!

Us :)
We're going to visit this restaurant frequently. It's just a short distance drive from our home. :)


Stacy's
Capitol Greenstreet Commercial Center,
1 Capitol Hills Drive, Quezon City

***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! :)

One Fine Weekend

We have been so busy the past months that even our weekends are so full, mostly, they are work-related for me and the husband. But this weekend we both went for the laid-back mode. I did work at home, finished a few reports in the morning, emailed them quickly and I was done. My husband needed to go to their place for a while but generally our Saturday was laid-back most parts of the day. Do we have to thank the recent tropical storm for it?

I love it and I miss it already now that only a few hours are left for our precious weekend. We did nothing special but I treasure days when we just stay at home, do simple things like watch DVD together while munching on chips.

Funny thing, my husband frowned at the idea of watching Letters to Juliet and Eat, Pray, Love but he sat with me until the very end of Twilight. Haha. He even clarified the characters he got confused with. I asked him if the movie was any good. He said yes. He's a late-bloomer Twilight Dad. Lol. He was even open to the idea of watching New Moon only I was not able to find the DVD in our storage. My guess is it's in my daughter's stash of DVDs.

Speaking of my daughter, she had a good time watching a special of Justin Bieber which was not a re-run but something she has not watched yet. Our favorite chips and the left-over butter sticks accompanied us while we were having some "the-art-of-doing-nothing-day".

I want more weekends like this - more family bonding. We need to create our balance again. I am eagerly looking forward to it. :)

Father's Day 2011

Just like Mother's Day, it was a very rainy Father's Day last June 19. But we still opted to have dinner somewhere near our place. We managed to go out around six in the evening and head to Trinoma but the road leading to the mall was littered with cars. Heavy traffic so we thought of going to the mall across it, SM North EDSA. It has the same scenario. We will probably consume 20 minutes just for lining up to the parking area and maybe another 30 minutes just for looking/waiting for parking.

We decided to go to Ayala-Technobhub. Good decision as there were still a few slots in the parking area and the place was not crowded. We celebrated Father's Day at The Old Spaghetti House. This was actually my daughter's choice because she loves one of the desserts the restaurant offers - colossal chocolate chip cookie a la mode.


Father's Day in the Philippines coincided with Jose Rizal's 150th anniversary. Jose Rizal is the Philippines' national hero. My father, my husband are heroes in their own rights and in the eyes and hearts of their families. :)

We always have this mandatory pose whenever we go out. :)

Just like how it was back in college. Happy Father's Day!
***Read more sharing at Mommy Journey.

Don't We Just Love to Eat?

This Friday's theme for Mommy Moments is "New Family Photo". Here are our most recent pictures among the many pictures I've taken or asked to be taken. I love taking pictures of my family.

The first one was taken on Dec. 29 after church. We had our dinner at Luk Foo, a newly opened restaurant near our place. I was first introduced in this restaurant during a birthday of a mommy blogger buddy. She treated us at another branch of Luk Foo. I love their spare ribs and peking duck.

The second picture was taken at Italianni's. We had our dinner there after watching Gulliver's Travels. And the third picture was taken at Max's. I just came from an out-of-office meeting, called hubby if he can pick me up because it was pretty late and I was a bit tired to call a cab. We had late dinner before going home. Or more like they had, not me. :) I'm watching my diet.


The family that dines together, stays together.

***Read more sharing at Mommy Journey.

Sunday Bonding

The husband has work on Sundays so it's usually just me and my daughter who go out and bond. After church today we went to the mall for our lunch and did some groceries and a little shopping. I bought her a camera case and a tote bag which she will use on their class' field trip next week.

This is just so ordinary but I really look forward to weekends when we can just be with each other whether at home, the mall, a recreation park, hotel, movies, bookstore, tiangge, salon - wherever as long as we are happy with what we are doing together. I cherish times like these with my family. Simple events (or in this case, non-event) like these make it great to look back when all these are just memories.

This was how it was with my family then. It really makes me feel good looking back at my childhood - visiting my aunt's house and walking a kilometer or so to get a ride. There was not much public transport back then in Diliman, Quezon City. We also go to Luneta Park for some picnic. We go to C.O.D. in Cubao during the holidays to watch the show in front of the department store. Yes, that was how simple our life was. But it still makes me smile when I remember those times. Simple joys and yet they keep me happy until now.

Anyway, back to the present time.

Again, it was T.G.I.Friday's. I have mentioned countless times this is my daughter's favorite restaurant. She said she likes the ambiance. Ambiance, yes, from a twelve year old. When I was twelve I only know about SM Foodcourt and Jollibee. She said she likes the wall decorations with old mementos just like a museum.

I like their tacos in spinach and cheese dip. Yummy dip!

This is already good for two, about P245.

My daughter, as usual, had her chicken fingers with fries and honey mustard dressing.

Chicken Fingers, P295

And as usual too, I had my favorite from TGIF, cajun shrimp and chicken pasta. This is really good, must try!

In creamy spicy sauce, P335 for regular plate

And lookie here, part of our groceries include our healthy binge. I did not bother to include the rest outside the green basket. They are indulgences we should be doing without. Haha.

Since I had pasta for lunch, I made sure I will eat light for my next meals for the day. I thought of papaya and toasted wheat crackers.

Don't we all wish it's always a weekend? Or any day just spent with the family doing mundane things which make you simply happy.