2 Weddings, 1 Weekend

glad to have been part of two dear friends' weddings over the weekend :) it was a good opportunity rin for Jeff and myself to get ideas and think about our future wedding naman

January 3, 2014

Jopa and Dan's Wedding in Tagaytay

Jopa is the third in our GS barkada to tie-the-knot! it was quite a long but amusing Church ceremony. admittedly only found out about certain details in their relationship during the priest's sermon. :)

mabuhay ang bagong kasal!

it was also the first time ever that I got to attend a ceremony in Calaruega. Jeff and I visited here a few years back, but we didn't get to go inside. the chapel setup was quite intimate and it sure was different seeing the place at night

friends of the bride photo op

I think Calaruega is really an ideal venue for weddings; however the local government really should do something about the road; it was not asphalted/cemented + there were no light posts in the area too; considering what I think would be a huge number of couples who get married here, they should at least exert some effort in improving the roads leading to the chapel; especially for ceremonies held in the evening

the ceremony ended at around 830 pm na; we should have followed the earlier advise to take heavy snacks talaga haha; we then headed back up towards Alfonso to reach the reception venue: Rosemont Gardens

it was a simple venue but was transformed to a really nice wedding reception place; I loved how the arrangements came together and you could really see how much effort had come into each detail of the wedding

a photo of Jopa and Dan + the menu (hehe) welcomed us in our table

cool personalized M&Ms as part of their dessert table

Paulinians + partners reunited

cheers to the newlyweds!

the matron of honor. Fria delivers a message to the couple

Coders missing Jo and Fayme

cute photobooth backdrop :)

the wedding was made more special with the wonderful messages from family and close friends; sayang we didn't get to stay until the end; but we sure left very excited and a bit pressured thinking about our own hehe. :)

#db1314

Transfiguration Chapel
Caleruega, Brgy. Kaylaway, Batulao, Nasugbu

Rosemont Gardens
General Aguinaldo Highway, Laurel, Batangas



January 4, 2014

Lem and Joyce's Wedding

buti na lang hindi on the same day ang wedding although admittedly ang hirap rin pala ng magkasunod na events! hehe. it was quite a long drive from Tagaytay to Libis, but glad we made it on time naman

it was another first for me to attend a wedding here at Christ the King

since it was a particularly hot afternoon; it was a relief to have a church with AC; made me think that should be a consideration too when we plan ours hehe

I think the walk down the aisle is usually the most emotional part of the ceremony if not for the vows; sayang I missed Jopa's walk but I was near the aisle during Joyce's + seeing Lem crying then--couldn't help but feel emotional too (pano pa kaya when its our turn na!)

it was a more straight forward ceremony; the 'you may now kiss the bride' portion came in the middle this time then the signing towards the end; while Jopa's had that naman in the middle and the kiss portion was in the end; there was no single format pala for a wedding 'no?

I was pretty impressed with their wedding planners/faciilitators I must say, hehe. very well organized and they seemed to have a lot of 'pakulos' planned :) it was the first time too that I've seen 'male' wedding organizers

Christ the King church - the couple's first kiss as newlyweds - the sweetest kiss including their parents

so the question from everyone is: kelan daw kami??

first photo op with Lem and Joyce

from Libis, we then travelled to Makati for the reception at the Rigodon Ballroom of the Peninsula Manila

loved the accents/details of their reception venue; they even had a 'front porch' setup for the newlyweds area; they placed this in the middle section of the ballroom which made it more accessible to all the guests vs the usual front near the projector screen

upon entering they provided give-away snacks to each guest consisting of mixed nuts, raisin and M&Ms; on the tables naman there was a canister of mints

when the couple entered the ballroom; Lem sang while they were walking to eventually lead them to their first dance! 

A for effort Lem!

we enjoyed watching a video of their love story + Lem's proposal though we've already heard it from him before :) what we enjoyed more though was taking photos and hashtagging them all to get printouts haha

looking forward to having dinner with the team this time in the couple's new home naman!

#lemandjoyce1414

Christ the King Church
Greenmeadows Avenue, Quezon City

Peninsula Manila
1226 Makati City

Maple

January 2, 2014

This was a really nice way to start the year -- a new resto to try + a dinner/mini-reunion with Unilever colleagues, both former and current

Have long been hearing about Maple and seeing it in friends' IG posts, and have always considered it a posh breakfast place kaya I never really made an effort to try it out on my own :p

they have a branch na pala in Shang Mall, and since most of us were from the North area, this was where we opted to meet up

pretty homey--Maple in Shangrila Mall, East Wing

I really liked the vibe of the resto plus it was kid-friendly too! they had a portion allotted for toys and bookshelves for kid guests

since we were there ahead, we had some safe starters muna, while waiting for the rest

Chili Fries (Php 225) and New England Clam Chowder (Php 250)

everyone else enjoyed the fries--I like my fries just plain fried and salted so it was too much for me; the clam chowder was tasty too and was good enough for sharing

Yanpi recommended the Tapa, but we opted to have other dishes

Fish and Chips (Php 480) and Chilean Mussels (Php 375)

both dishes were okay naman pero when we saw the Tapa they ordered we couldn't help but drool over it and ended up ordering one too

Prime Rib Tapa (Php 520)

four of us actually ended up sharing this dish; and we didn't even get to finish everything. it was really good and had thin portions of fat kaya I liked it more; some parts though were quite gnawy lang and the fried rice that came with it was just too oily for me

Sumptuous Salmon Torte (Php 2200)

the name pretty much said it all. it truly a full meal on its own: Salmon fillet + rice + onions and spinach all in a pastry puff as huge as a standard chopping board = sarap :)

considering everything that we ate, there was barely room for anything else; kaya we ended up just ordering one dessert plate for all of us

Red Hot Choco Lava Cake (Php 280)

sure would love to take my family for meal here some time soon!

last customers out!

Maple

G/F East Wing

Shangrila Mall
https://www.facebook.com/MapleRestaurantPH

Shared Services Halloween 2013

October 30, 2013

here's just to share some photos from our halloween celebration at the office last week. the Shared Services/Functions group came together to have a United Nations themed halloween party for the kiddos

candy anyone?

Andrew brought Kimi and Mia for trick or treat!

the kiddos invading the HR building

some of cute kids who visited us at the HR building for trick or treat!

looking forward to next year's celebration!

19 East + Side A

October 29, 2013


I honestly was not too thrilled about this plan at first but since Jeff was away then plus the place was just less than 15 mins away from the house, so might as well. haha

I love OPM a lot and I liked some songs of Side A, but I just thought then na 'lipas' na sila + super 'gasgas' na the songs that made them big then

well naisip ko na lang better Side A than Freestyle which was the group's first option, hehe

as early as 730 pm we were already at 19 East. the show was scheduled at 930 pm which gave us just enough time to have dinner.

this was actually my first time to 19 East considering that I live along Sucat lang. I've always wanted to go especially before Sugarfree disbanded, but just never got the chance to

we went inside the Music Hall to make sure we get the best seats, unfortunately they were still setting up, so we had to go out and have dinner outside at the garden

okay naman yung garden. we opted for a table which was overlooking Laguna de Bay (albeit dark) so it was a breezy and added to a good, relaxed atmosphere

19 East (view of the music hall from the garden)

unfortunately lighting wasn't that good, so I opted not to take photos of the dishes we ordered, but to share:

Pork Sisig (Php 198)
Halaan Soup (Php 179)
Grilled Squid (Php 93/100g)
Sizzling Veggies with Squid (Php 179)
Liempo (Php 179)
Beef Salpicao (Php 235)

haha 179 is the default price ata dito. the food was actually quite good. I especially liked the sisig. medyo medium rare lang ang luto ng salpicao kaya I didn't like it as much, pero malasa. over-all good food na for the price

by 9 pm we made our way inside since a lot of people started coming in na rin while we were having dinner. apparently Radha was there pala together with Jomari Yllana 

IG @jobnacpil tonight! #hrkaladkarins

it was only at around past 10 pm however when the band came in. you could tell they were just firming up their song list when they got there. I guess they also considered the demographics of the audience

iba talaga ang voice ni Joey G. still as good as how it was then. it was interesting to note too that all the band members pala can sing, and it was good that they were also able to showcase this as they took turns singing. I also noticed that they have younger members this time

I particularly liked their other vocalist, Lee Von. he has a deeper voice which helped complement Joey G's higher range; crazy guitar skills + he was kinda cute rin

IG @jobnacpil live music at its finest #SideA

I was actually expecting them to sing their original songs lang or the songs they covered in their albums so I got really thrilled when they started playing the likes of Africa (Toto) and The Man Who Can't Be Moved (The Script)

lalo when they did a cover of Kenny Loggins' Heart to Heart -- classic!

here's a quick video I took pala when they covered the song

during their 2nd set pala they even invited Radha over and she sang a couple of songs too. they started playing some sappy love songs though which I didn't enjoy so much and since it was already past 1 am, I opted to leave before the gig. hehe.

ibang klase talaga 'pag live music. sa totoo lang it has been decades ata since I last went to a legit concert. so I'm really looking forward to being able going to a big one atleast next year!

for now I think I'm gonna monitor that 19 East gig list and watch out for other performers too. but I sure won't mind catching Side A (and Lee Von) again soon!

IG @jobnacpil #Repost from @marijoanne #goodtimes with the #hrkaladkarins #Side A

19 East Bar and Grill

Km 19 East Service Road

Sucat, Muntinlupa City

http://19east.com/index.php

Cultural Night at Barbara's

October 22

our HRVP for SEAA, Lennard visited the PH and so as a way to welcome him, the team arranged for dinner at Barbara's

I've long heard about this place since I started in ULP, as they would often take foreign guests here when they come to visit the PH

I would also often see groupons offering lunch buffet and have considered buying it before, so this was a good opportunity to finally try out the place

Barbara's was directly across the San Agustin Church pala

below was a photo taken on a sidestreet beside Barbara's

here's the entrance to Barbara's

when we got there, the show just started and we were situated at a table which was right beside the performance area so we saw performers up close (may be too close, actually)

Rondalla performing

Pastores

Sayaw sa Bangko

Tinikling

the performance was amazing! sayang didn't get to take photos of all the dances, but there was one Mindanao dance that I saw for the first time and which really drew cheers/applause from the crowd

at the end of the show we all had photo-ops with the performers and we even got to sing a happy birthday song for Kary together with the Rondalla

over-all it was a remarkable cultural night. the performances were great, the place itself was amazing. unfortunately I could not say the same for the food :(

while they had a buffet, I only had a plateful and decided not to go back na. I didn't even get to try the dessert!

I would probably go back though, but perhaps just to watch the show and to go around the restaurant

Barbara's Restaurant and Catering
Plaza San Luis Complex
Gen. Luna St, Manila 1002

Poco Deli

October 8, 2013

Finally Poco Deli!

I've long been hearing about this resto but I don't think I'll ever get to go to Kapitolyo. good thing they now have a Makati branch!

We had a girls' night out as Jeff was away for a business trip in Ilocos. But I'm sure he would have loved to go and am really looking forward to bringing him here.

Here were our choices for the evening:

- German Sausage and Cheese Platter (Php 340)
- Italian Sausage Pizza / Quattro Formaggi Pizza (Php 360)
- Truffle Oil Pasta (Php 350)
- Bacon Slab (Php 320)

I absolutely loved all the dishes. Well, maybe not so much the Truffle Oil pasta pala. haha. I think it was medyo nakaka-umay so just one or two spoonfuls of the dish would have been enough for me.

The sausage + cheese combo was a first for me. I'm never the type to enjoy the more classy/fine dining experiences; but it was a good experience with good friends around.

I particularly liked the bacon slab coupled with the bacon rice. yummmy! It was a friend's order but we couldn't help but ask for cuts of it every so often. haha.

and finally to end the meal, Blackout Chocolate Cake (Php 155)

I think I could have downed the whole thing by myself! hehe.

Sa totoo lang I think I may have gone out of my comfort zone here in terms of dining experiences; though not all the way naman with wine and all. But am glad at least little by little I am enjoying these things more and looking forward to sharing these new experiences naman with others.

Looking forward to bringing Jeff here soon!


Poco Deli
Ayala Triangle Gardens, Ayala Avenue Makati

Bistro Remedios

September 27, 2013

we were actually here for a former boss' despedida but I'll be focusing on the resto/food more than the event in this blog

Bistro Remedios is one of the restos in the LJC group so am expecting nothing less than Lorenzo's Way (which is the only other LJC resto I've eaten in pala, haha)

it was within the Remedios circle of the Malate area.

I really really loved the feel of the place. it was very homey and comforting -- no doubt it was a Filipino resto. 

since the dishes were pre-ordered na. we only had a say in terms of dessert. haha. but knowing Ms. Tins, she would get only the house specialties

for starters, we had the following:

- Sinigang na Bangus (which was a meal in itself na) I'm not a fan of sinigang cooked with bayabas but this was really really good
- Gambas (to die for) and
- Chicharones (nakamamatay sa sarap)


for the main dishes naman (as if our starters were not heavy na)

- Binukadkad na Crispy Pla Pla
- Knockout Knuckle
- Chicken in Gata (I couldn't find the dish in the menu but it was a chicken version of the usual bicol express albeit not spicy)
- Gising Gising
- Bicol Express (not shown in photo but it was more like pinakbet)

All the dishes were really good. Though I think it could have been more diverse. haha. since we got quite a number of fried dishes + dishes cooked in gata.

Atleast I have a reason to come back here sooner :)

As for dessert, apart from the usual leche flan and maja blanca, we also got their specialty knows as Sikreto ni Maria Clara

it was a plate of suman with mangoes and vanilla ice cream. and it was oh-so good.

not sure why they call it that since the dish was quite straightforward, but I'll be sure to ask when I return. :)

it's a really good resto for comfort food but with a twist. should be a good start in exploring new food finds within Remedios circle.

Bistro Remedios
1911 M. Adriatico Street, Remedios Circle, Malate, Manila

Phone: 523-9153