Celebrating Valentine's Day

Dearest Maia,

Unlike most families in our circle, we are NOT big on celebrating valentine's day. In fact, your dad refuses to acknowledge that this day exist. He absolutely abhors the horrendous traffic that goes with it. And how commercialized it has become.

In our household, this year was the same as any other valentine's day in the past. It was as normal as any given day. Except that you made us a card. That as again melted our hearts. Thank you for reminding us how love should be celebrated. Not just on valentine's day. But EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

You are growing up like the fine lady that we expect you to be, Maia. One of these days, the inevitable will come. Someone will ask you out for a date. My fervent prayer is that...may you always remember how your special dates with your dad was like. May they serve as your guide.

You daddy treated you like a real princess, little girl. (I was the queen so you have to settle with that title for now). May you find someone someday who would treat you the same way, or even better, as we continue to pray always.

Love,

Daddy and Mommy

Cafe Voila. Post-valentine's date c. 2017

Mother's Day Lunch At Pamana Restaurant

Today was more of a spur of a moment thing. But having been burnt out at work for weeks now, I have been wanting (and needing) a reprieve (from the house, from the sight of my computer) even for just a few hours.

So even if the kids have been very vocal about hating commuting of late, they all agreed to give me some slack today and allowed me to finally embrace the reprieve that I've been yearning even if just briefly. We decided, albeit at the last minute, to head off to Tagaytay to celebrate mother's day. Last year, we also spent mother's day there at Bag of Beans. And since my nephew is vacationing with us as well, it would be nice to bring him up there as well too. Maia was excited to show him the place where Mommy and Daddy got married.

The plan was - hear mass and eat. And maybe visit a few sites if time would permit. Tibs did warn me though - manage my expectations. It's warm in Tagaytay now. And yes, the temperature didn't give us much options when we got there. After hearing the 11am mass in Lourdes, we walked a few meters towards Pamana Restaurant and that's about how we burned our time in Tagaytay.

No regrets though. I still was happy to "escape". And I finally made time to buy those plants that I've been asked to buy for my team's work area. (Kind of defied my purpose of escaping the thought of work, but at least I had a change of scenery. Which was enough for now, at least).

On Pamana Restaurant:

We ordered what we feel is just the appropriate thing to order when you're in Tagaytay - Bulalo and Crispy Tawilis. Tibs is a big fan of Binagoongang Baboy so we also tried that. We ordered their ube halohalo for Gogol and Sago't Gulaman for everyone else.

The Bulalo serving was too large for us. We should have just ordered small or medium and we still won't feel it's "bitin". We had leftovers for everything and it was good enough for another meal (yes, we had the same thing for dinner).

Price-wise we wished there were more of us to share, then the close to P2,000 bill wouldn't have really mattered. But sadly we were just a group of 3 adults and 2 kids who only devoured the cold desserts. Safe to probably budget at around 300/head if you are with the company of purely adults.

The restaurant is kid-friendly and on a Sunday, we just came at a perfect time (at around 11:30ish) because a few minutes after that hungry diners came rushing. We picked a table at the rooftop. We had a great view of Taal and it was pretty breezy considering the ultra hot summer temp. They could work on providing more toilets though because it really was a long line we had to endure just to get bladder relief. If you're with kids, that could be a really difficult situation to be in.

Happiness is...

seeing your kid empty out her plate and hearing her happily declare "I love everything you cook, Mommy! They all taste great! I want to eat ALL of them!"

Shallow me, that announcement alone already made me feel like I got the best mother's day gift ever!

posted from Bloggeroid

Weekend Love: Sunshine Kitchen

Weekends are sacred to our family. The best weekend for us would be one spent entirely at home doing just about any "lazy" activity there is (movie marathons, trying out simple recipes with the little miss, siestas that would extend through the entire afternoon).

But we also value friendships. So connecting regularly with friends is also important to us. And for that, we also make a conscious effort to allot one of our weekend days at least once or twice in a month to spend outside of the house. 

Last Saturday, we left home early to meet up with my college girl friends and also long time roommates/housemates (Half of the time I lived away from home, I played house with these girls). I picked Sunshine Kitchen at the Fort Strip in Bonifacio Global City as our meeting place because I still had an unused Groupon voucher which was about to expire. I was saving that voucher up for a special occasion and I thought this was just the perfect time for it.

Although I did read a couple of good reviews of this restaurant I preferred to set my expectations at low. After all, I really am just after spending lunch with my favorite people. I called the restaurant 2 days before to reserve a table since we are a party of 5 and I really wouldn't want to wait long when I'm with the little miss. She borders on tantrum attack everytime we're made to wait for a table to free up. 

We arrived in Sunshine Kitchen about 15 minutes before my reserved time and the table was already ready. I guess, when they asked me to confirm our reservation around 11 am that morning they were just about to prepare our table. I say, they already won me over just by doing that (yes, I'm shallow I won't deny it hehe). I rarely get a callback for confirmation every time I make dining reservations.

The room is very airy. I immediately loved the ambiance. I also like their rustic the interiors. Both my husband and I have a common attraction to wooden furniture so yes, we were smitten by the place. We were handed over a menu. It was just a list of what they had. I did wish they had a better one, maybe something that had photos of their best sellers at least so people like my husband (who didn't get to browse their menu online beforehand) would not have a hard time choosing what to order.

sadly i wasn't able to take a photo of the braised beef and the friend chicken

I ordered 3 items for our party of 5 - Four-cheese pizza, Braised Beef and Fried Chicken. We were initially set on ordering their best seller - the 6 hour slow cooked Porchetta - but at 12:30 they were already out of stock. It must be that good, no? I was also planning to order a pasta dish when my college friends arrived but when the food came (we had to wait for about 15-20 minutes for our food to be ready), they were just enough for light eaters like us. My little girl, who is a cheese monster, had 3 slices of pizza. The chicken servings were just big enough, were cooked well and very crisp. The braised beef that we ordered was good enough to share. It was very tender and the sauce complimented the mashed potato that came with it on the side. Each of the items we ordered had a real home-cooked feel. Being somebody who loves to cook at home, that is another plus.

Will our family come back again to dine here? Definitely. The resto is kid-friendly and one of the waiters were even kind enough to ask my little girl if she wanted anything else. That made the kid feel like a real grown up. I also love that despite being at full capacity on lunch hour, my friends and I can hear each other very well. We were able to chat to our heart's content. It was just like were dining at home, only I didn't have to worry about food and all. Oh and my voucher was even good enough to let us try 2 of the desserts on the restaurant's menu - Key Lime Ice Cream and the Salted Caramel Cheesecake. Both were really good. I was transported to dessert heaven. I would come back to this place, even just for the dessert (but I will -- to try the Porchetta). In my opinion, this place is worth spending good food money in. Even without the group buy discount, I would pick this restaurant to eat in.

Good food, Great Company!

I will stop my blabbering here. If you want to find out more about the Sunshine Kitchen, check out their Facebook page. Or Google for more interesting food reviews like this one.

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Sunshine Kitchen

2/F Fort Pointe Bldg 1,

The Fort Strip, Bonifacio Global City

(0928) 821 26 25

Store Hours: Sundays-Wednesdays from 11am-2pm; 6-10:30pm, Th-Sat 11am-2pm; 6pm-2am)

Maia Travels: Mother's Day At Bag Of Beans

Tagaytay is becoming a favorite destination for our little family. Thinking that it's much cooler over there, we left the house early last Sunday to hear mass at Ina Ng Laging Saklolo. Then we planned to have breakfast after at the main branch of Bag of Beans further up in Mendez. I just learned recently that they now have a branch at the Tagaytay Rotunda strip of restos (what's that called exactly? I can't remember anymore). But wanting to find a more comfortable and well, quite breakfast place we decided to take a extra few more kilometers to travel to where the original cafe is.

The last time we ate at BoB was when Tibs and I were planning our wedding in 2007. We stumbled into this quaint little cafe (if I remember correctly, the extension where the buffet set up is now was not there yet) because we were looking for a big place to for our families to stay in after the wedding. Although we already acquired our house then, it wasn't big enough for several families to stay in. Good thing, as I was a member of w@w then, I found Amirsache Villa and we were able to rent the entire place.

Oppps, I digress once again. Sorry about that. Going back to my story, we've stopped over the store several times after that coffee date often when my family comes over to visit but we never thought of stopping there to grab a bite. We've always just come back for the bread and never really bothered to check out the restaurant inside.

Deciding to spend our mother's day there was just right. Although the resto was packed when we arrived at around 9:30 am, we were immediately ushered to available seats. But as they were bursting with guests, food took a little longer (probably than usual) even if we only ordered usual pinoy breakfast fare of longanisa, chicken tocino, chicken pork asado. I ordered funny face pancakes for the little miss because the day before she mentioned of wanting to make me pancakes for mother's day breakfast (and i indeed ended up eating most of the pancakes and her eating most of my longa meal). Tibs upsized to bottomless brewed coffeesince we both are huge coffee drinkers. I think we still make better brewed coffee though. With our ever-reliable tiny 3d coffee maker and a few spoonfuls of Monk's Blend ground robusta coffee. I got curious too how the restaurant turned out to be so packed with hungry guests so early in the day and the servers told me they open as early as 6. I made a mental note to invite the hubs for an even earlier breakfast date (and maybe a short run? hmmmm) one of these days.

 The restaurant also serves buffet breakfast (at P395/person) and brunch (at 495/person).

While we wait for our food, Maia, Ate Inday and I took the opportunity to explore the area and took turns posing for photos in almost every photo op-friendly corner. We were silly like that. The little girl even set a limit on the number of shots we should take of her. (Dito mommy, 4 pictures. Dito 5 ha. Kailangan 5. two pictures lang tayo dito, mommy. Kalurkey having a camera-hugging kid)

So even if the day was supposed to be all for me, it turned out to be HER day mostly. The number of photos of her alone would be enough testament to that. Gone is that camera reticent kid that I used to chase just to steal a few decent photos from. Lately, she gleefully volunteers to have her photo taken.

We left Tagaytay just before noon. The highway was not that busy when we got there around 8am-ish but at noontime, it was evident that it was a special Sunday. Most restaurants we passed by were all packed with nary a vacant parking spot within plain sight. I guess on special days like this it's better to plan an early morning trip if you ever decide to come up to Tagaytay.

I'm really happy that Tagaytay is now very commuter-friendly. It makes planning for special weekends a lot more easier for me.

How did you spend your mother's day?

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Bag Of Beans
Coffeeshop, Restaurant and Bakery
115 Aguinaldo Highway, Crossing Mendez West
Tagaytay City
046 413 2724

How to commute to Bag of Beans via Aguinaldo Hi-way 

Take bus or jeepney (at the Olivarez terminal) that is heading towards Nasugbu. Bag of beans is along the highway to your right a few kilometers after Crossing Mendez Intersection.

More on Tagaytay sights here.

Weekend #9: Terra 28th and Mango Tree

I confessed in a couple of posts in the past to being a homebody. I stay true to that claim to this day. But once in a while, I do welcome spending our weekends outside of our home. I feel we need do that to instill some sense of "social life balance" (okay, i invented that) on our kid. 

Being out and experiencing "life" outside of our home is important to a school kid like my daughter (in my opinion, that is). Trying out new restaurants gives her palate some sense of adventure (the foodie kind of way) and interacting with kids other than classmates and our neighbors affords her the experience to socialize with kids that are not categorized as friends or acquaintances. Strangers, if you want to really label it. 

Despite being very outspoken and talkative, I grew up a very shy kid. I attribute that to my lack of 'experience'. I wasn't very sociable as kid. I chose to confine myself in the comforts of our home and devour books and watch TV then. The only kids I knew were the kids on my block and right across the street. I remain friends with them till now though. Yes, I can probably say wherever life took us, our childhood memories somehow stuck with us. And thank God for the rise of social media, we still get to correspond and update one another with what's going on in our lives every so often. BUT I digress yet again.

My point is, yes you build solid friendships even if you don't go out often. But it also relegates you to thinking it's okay to choose mediocrity just because you're too scared to take risks. My mommy friend Maggie has this wonderful post on spontaneity and in my case, I was admittedly a late bloomer in that department. Honestly, I love this new version of me more (the spontaneous one). I would wish for my daughter to nurture the same spirit as I have now. Life is for the living as they say. And to me, part of living is being out there experiencing LIFE. 

i made this thinking it's a week's worth of words but by Sunday she'll learned to read all of it. atat. kanino pa kaya nagmana?

So anyways, before I blabber some more, let me just share with you how we spent last weekend. Again it was a good mix of lazy and busy. We spent the entire Saturday at home. We painted new words to learn in the morning and napped mostly in the afternoon. Sunday was the busy one. But it was the good kind because I finally got to connect with my college buddy M who is also my daughter's ninang (well, we both are godparents to our kids as we're not really superstitious like that). 

life sized playmobil figures at one of our fave stops in BHS - Hobbes and Landes

M and I decided to meet up at Bonifacio Global City since we both have not been there for quite a long time (like several months) now. I used to work in the Fort area and admittedly, I love spending time there. It's just the perfect place to spend family day outs. Plenty of space for the kids to run around and restos all over for the adults to do catch up chatter. 

This weekend, the hubs and I decided to bring the kid to Terra 28th. It's pretty rundown now. The seesaw in particular was already broken but it was still a nice place to hang out with your hyperactive kid. We taught Maia how to play piko and patintero and she had fun learning it. She also invented her own game and christened it: ZIGZAG STONES because yes the mechanics is to run in ZIGZAG without stepping on any of the stones that were scattered on the grass.

Let's play ZIGZAG STONES, Mommy! LEZGOW!

It was a very humid day last Sunday but we still managed to spend a good one hour in that playground. After that it started drizzling so we headed to nearby BHS for cover just in time as well to meet M. We unanimously agreed it was a good day to feast on Thai food so we headed to the recently opened BHS Central where a cluster of new restaurants (well at least for me) are located (this is where Slice is located too, we wanted to dine there but the place was packed and we all have a common allergic to crowds hahaha). We shared a sumptuous lunch of red chicken curry, sauteed crabs, veggies and tom yum at Mango Tree. Everything we ordered was a winner. Sorry no photos to show as we were all so hungry, we didn't bother to take photos anymore but Maia really enjoyed the Tom Yum soup (but she got full instantly because she would sip at her Mango shake every time she takes a bit of the fish from the soup. should remember to order the milder version next time). If you are a fan of Thai food, I would suggest you try this resto. The ambiance is just perfect for family gatherings. No loud music. And the dining area is very cozy. We were tempted to take power naps after our filling lunch. 

PHOTO SOURCE. I would come back for this every weekend, if I can.

After lunch, the daddy and the baby little miss headed to Fully Booked to bond while M and I window shopped. When we got tired we decided to grab coffee and dessert at The Cake Club (also in BHS Central). We shared a slice of Guia (which was just so heavenly, if you are a cheesecake person I highly recommend you try it). We called it a day at around 5pm because the kid looked pretty wiped out. True enough, she was snoring on our commute home. Tired to the nth level.

I can do this maybe at least once a month. Since I'm making lists of things to do already I'm sure there's bound to be several repeats of weekends like this. It was just the perfect kid kind. Not rushed. Just well-spent one.

How's your week been so far? If you're the kind who likes to join blog contests, please hop on over to my mommy friend Aimee's blog and join her blog anniversary giveaway. Amazing prizes, I'm tellin' ya.

And if you like handmade stuff, I encourage you to visit Pepper's The Wagon Shop as well. Or if you're a dessert monster like me, you would love Sha's cupcakes and Maggie's cakepops. 

I hope what's left of the work week is going to be kind to you because I wish the same for me. :)

Vanilla Cupcake Bakery

I was once a dessert monster. But having vowed to choose healthier food some months ago, I have since buried that monster persona unto the deepest bottom of my craving list.

Once in a while though, when I stumble into a pastry store that is so daintily decorated and sells goodies that are just too inviting to every sweets addict (recovering or not) roaming this planet, the monster awakens. And that's exactly what happened today. Normally (knowing how I miss the shops in Makati CBD where I lived for almost half of my working life. I do miss the city life sometimes BUT not all the time) my husband would strategically stir me away from malls or if unavoidable, would jokingly tell me to just close my eyes while passing through. This afternoon he didn't do such thing. Maybe because we have the little miss with us. I don't know what got into him. But it seems, we were really destined to see (and be lured by) this attractive pastry shop. 

SWEET TO THE LIPS, KILLER ON THE HIPS.
Gotta lace up really soon, if I don't want to worry about my weight again.

While I was still undecided if I will try their cupcakes, the little miss already pulled me further inside the store. She got so excited seeing the colorful, pretty interiors of the store. 

"Are we going to eat here Mommy?" As if on queue, we both threw the daddy puppy looks. (Probably) Left with no choice, he reluctantly nodded back but added: "Buy them to go." So I replied back to the little miss, "No baby, well just buy the cupcakes then we'll eat them at home. You need to get some rest because you're still feverish". She didn't retort as if silently affirming my statement. But she asked if we can check out the other end of the store. She kept pointing at the fondant cake displays which were equally colorful as the store itself.

that's pretty mommy!

loving everything inside this store.
from the drawer details to the play of pastel colors in its interiors

photobombed. but she didn't mind. she just wanted 

awkward at first. but loosened up when i told her we'll buy cupcakes for her

she feel in love at first sight with the yellow mini-Daphne chair. she attempted to carry it but turned out to be heavier than she imagined. Haha. i don't know what she was thinking by doing that. but those chairs cost a fortune litte girl i don't think your dad will let us take it home.

tea time mommy!

the store also sells cakes by the slice.
but they're a bit steep for our pockets (around 300+/slice) so we decided to pass up

There's nothing like ending the day on a sweet note. Although, among the cupcakes that I've tasted it's still Sonja's that tops my list, I would come back to this place if only for the ambiance. I would hope though that they consider lowering the prices of the cuppies (special cupcakes are on the range of 85-100) to encourage more cupcake lovers and sweets aficionados to try their goodies. I only tried two flavors the choco malt vanilla cupcake and red velvet. My mom who isn't very fond of cakes loved the vanilla cupcake (maybe that is really their specialty, I should remember to ask next time). I'm still raring to try the other flavors. One at a time, I guess. I would wish they will consider having choco mint icing on their menu as well (as I am a sucker for that combo).

VANILLA CUPCAKE BAKERY
Glorietta 4, Makati City/ Trinoma, Quezon City