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

Clucky's

November 2, 2013


as shared in my other posts, whenever Jeff and I would want to try new food, we'd usually check out SM North Edsa Annex area particularly where Save More used to be

and usually we'd find ourselves a newly-opened resto naman in fairness

this time, our newest food discovery was Clucky's

Clucky's is attempting to compete with the likes of BonChon, Chicken Charlie with its Korean fried chicken

our choices:

1) Parmesan fries (Php 49) [also comes in a bigger size at Php 85]
2) Bulgogi meal with 12 oz drink (Php 149)
3) Kimchi meal with 12 oz drink (Php 149
4) Wings Solo (Php 125) solo

I liked their rice topping meals a lot. they had quite big servings and Jeff and I were able to share pa. yung parmesan fries nothing too extraordinary. the dip I really didn't get the taste so much.

not too happy about the chicken though - at first glance it seemed very artificial particularly yung skin breading. when I ate it, the whole thing practically came off na parang kinabit lang sya when it was fried! taste wise so-so lang din

I think if I were to return here though I would go back for the rice toppings lang. hehe


Clucky's
SM North Edsa, G/F Annex

Weekend Eats (Round 4)

we go north to south with two more food finds for the weekend

October 25

Pino Resto Bar

yes, this was a long time coming. we've gone here numerous times only to end up across the street at Don Day or other nearby restos.

I guess we were just lucky last Friday night. haha. while a lot of cars were parked outside, the resto wasn't as packed as it usually was

cool artpieces

while I've had my share of Kare-Kare na the past week, I still wanted to taste one of their specialities which was the Kare-Kareng Bagnet (Php 265). Jeff naman went for the Ginataang Bopis (Php 185). we also got a pitcher of their iced tea (Php 125)

sobrang sarap parehas haha. I actually wanted to get an extra rice pa dahil ang dami ng serving nung bopis. medyo na-guilty lang ako sa bagnet but it was just so good I could not stop having some more.

next time will be sure to try the binagoongang bagnet naman + their desserts na rin. 'til then I can't wait!


October 26

Ritchie's Diner

sa pauli-ulit naming dumaan sa Aguirre Avenue sa BF, we'd often see Ritchie's diner but never really considered eating there

for one, we weren't too sure what there offering was and we didn't really bother checking it out rin naman.

that night though we just wanted to try something new. Period.

we actually were planning to try Borgo Cafe or the Knuckle Sandwich Station kaya we parked in that side. but we got intrigued since a lot of people were eating at Ritchie's and so we crossed the street to check out the place

the place had a cool vibe. good attempt at an American diner. but not quite yet. haha.  even their servers were dressed up for the part. I did like their choice of music though. 80's.

while American diner ang concept they did serve Pinoy breakfast

being the burger fanatic that I am, I played it safe with the Ritchie's burger which came with a plate of fries. I got a bit worried with the description highlighting how cheezy it was though. but might as well give it a shot.

I was relieved to play it safe, dahil the burger was really good. I loooooved the melted cheese! medyo gnaw-y lang for me ang burger kaya I had to use a knife to cut through it. but undoubtedly it was pure beef naman daw sabi ni Jeff. I think we a little more tenderizing then it would have been great.

Jeff had the beef tapa. which was good naman though a bit on the sweet side, but not something I'd go back for.

this is a good alternative to Gourmet Charbroiled burgers as a snack place :)


Pino Resto Bar
39 Malingap St.
Teacher Village - East, Quezon City

Ritchie's Diner303 Aguirre AvenueBF Homes Paranaque City

Going Japanese

lately Jeff and I have find ourselves wanting to try more Japanese restos. here's to share two of our recent food finds specifically in Mall of Asia

October 17

Oki Oki Japanese Restaurant

we would often pass by this resto but we would not end up eating here since they didn't seem to get a lot of customers. ergo food may not be good. haha.

one time though the other restos we'd usually go to were quite packed + the ones that did have space were not within budget haha. sooo we had might as well try Oki Oki

the place had good ambiance and they also had quite good offerings in their menu

we ordered dishes which we'd normally have in other Japanese restos:

Crazy Maki (Php 285)

the Crazy Maki was made of crabmeat and shrimpmeat roe. we were debating at first if we should choose this maki, kasi for less price the other maki dishes came in 8s, while the Crazy Maki only had 6 pieces. yun pala crazy huge naman ang size ng Crazy Maki nila so it was pretty sulit. 

Gyoza Ramen (Php 215) | Chicken Teriyaki (Php 200)

Jeff had the gyoza ramen which we requested to be served separately and I ordered the Oki Oki Chicken Teriyaki

I mistakenly ordered the a la carte version pala of the Chicken so I had no rice. but considering the size of the Crazy Maki I figured there was no need to have a separate order na. I liked how the chicken skin was fried. it reminded me of the time we were in Japan and my Tito introduced us to a skewer stall by the bus station. the sauce was good too but medyo nalansahan ako sa chicken

I didn't find the gyoza ramen that good though. the soup was a bit Maggi-ish for me (parang Tokyo Tokyo ramen) and the gyoza was not bad but not great either

I would probably come back for the maki and to try the other dishes too--top of my list to try would be the bento sets naman (our adjacent table had this and looked quite good. hehe)

October 20

Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant

this was another resto na ilang beses din naming dinaan-daanan before trying it. haha. we were pretty conscious about spending so we were pretty careful about choosing which resto to go to.

we had an unplanned trip to MOA after checking out the Off Price show at WTC. since we were there na rin we decided to have an early dinner or 'ban-go-han' as they say in Japanese.

coming in pa lang, I instantly liked the place. it was a fresh, modern take on Japanese style

nothing casual about the place

glad we were given complimentary tea. not a lot of Japanese restos do so. kaya this was a good surprise

browsing through the menu we came to know that Watami pala is a Japanese chain brought in by the Bistro Group.

they sure had a lot of interesting dishes in the menu. but since we weren't that hungry, we each got stone pot dishes

Beef and Kimchee Rice in Stone Pot & Pork Rice with Egg Yolk in Stone Pot (Php 295 each)

Jeff had the Beef and Kimchee and I had the Pork Rice. sayang I gave in to the server's offer to mix it up agad, so I missed taking a better photo of mine. haha

I would have to say this was one of the best meals I've had in awhile. at first glance parang ang onti nung serving. but as you go through the bowl it never seems to run out! haha. the stone pot was quite effective too in keeping the food warm which helped improve the dining experience.

I didn't have much of Jeff's as I wasn't too fond of kimchee, but he did take lots of spoonfuls of mine! it was really good kasi. while it was cooked with pork, the rice was very flavorful and it actually had hints of shrimp taste

we scrimped a bit on ordering this time, so this means there's a lot more we can try when we come back :)

Oki Oki Japanese Restaurant

G/F North Wing

Mall of Asia, Pasay City

Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant

2nd Level, Bayside Veranda

Entertainment Mall

Mall of Asia, Pasay City

Manila Field Trip

October 5, 2013

Jeff and I had another random trip which we just decided on the same morning we went.

the game plan was: Divisoria --> Binondo --> Quiapo

we were pretty used to with the place but it felt different that time especially having had a recent trip to Singapore.

you couldn't help but wish that Manila was as orderly/clean/organized as Singapore.

any how. from their place, we took the LRT from Roosevelt and went down at D. Jose station.

From D. Jose we had an option to take a jeep or walk. since there was quite a build up of traffic na that time, we decided to walk na lang all the way to Divisoria.

Quite a lot has changed na rin since our last visit last year, so it was a good surprise to end up at the new 999 mall and 168 mall in Divisoria after going in and out of other buildings. Since the Divisoria bit of my entry only concerns clothes/toy shopping, no need for further details on that. :)

Post shopping in Divisoria, we walked all the way to Binondo and straight to Benavidez for lunch.

While on our way, I stopped by the Sta. Cruz church to take a quick snapshot:

I think churches will always be among my favorite photo subjects :)

Benavidez St. had a good number of dining options. In this case though, Jeff was set on having lunch in only one place and nowhere else

Masuki Mami Restaurant

I think this was the third time we've eaten here, but Jeff never seems to get tired of eating here. must be because it had a sentimental value not only to him but his dad rin.

they would often share stories about their times eating here. and especially how the current food server was the same server who has worked here way back when his dad was still his age.

Jeff normally orders the Original Mami Regular (Php 110)
while I ended up ordering the Beef Wonton Mami Special (Php 180) which is for sharing because I never am able to finish the dish on my own

Jeff with manong from ever since

Interestingly enough, when we got home that afternoon, the show Taste Buddies on NewsTV actually featured Binondo restos and one of which was Masuki. There I found more about the mami house's history and their 'kinakabayo' noodles.

With renewed energy from our full tummies, we then headed towards Quiapo, this time for Jeff naman.

I wish Avenida would be closed to traffic again
just like how it was a decade back.

On our way, the church yard still remains full of vendors selling herbal medicines, prayer candles and fortune telling.

Quiapo Church

to get to the other side, we took the underpass which was also full of street vendors all over

and so we reached Jeff's happy place. haha.

cycling apparel and bike shops galore

while that kept him preoccupied, I kept myself amused in a store selling clothes/hats for army/navy/barangay personnel :)

Brgy. Tanod at your service

I also came across these funny/interesting signs

you also get to see bits and pieces of the older days, just like this old Scott burgers fixture

while going to these places can be tiring/stressful and even dangerous at times, I think these are opportunities also for us to learn. sometimes it is also good to get a way from our usual routine and rough it up.

I think I'll be back here sooner than intended. :)

Masuki Mami House
931 Benavidez St. Binondo Manila
https://www.facebook.com/pages/MASUKI-MAMI-RESTAURANTMASUKI-MAMI-HOUSESIOPAOBOY-by-MASUKI/152826091292