Domo Arigato, Sharon Cuneta!

Inday,

I woke up Saturday morning not expecting how long it would be. After having beef hotdogs and pandesal for breakfast, I headed to San Juan for a bowling tournament. The 1st round of the tournament ended around 12:30 pm. Thrift mode was on so I decided to order lunch at the bowling alley because I know it will be shouldered by someone, I ordered beef stroganoff with pasta. After I ordered a boss said we’ll have lunch afterwards, his treat. Free meals! What a morning! We were all full so we said that we’ll just have dessert in Bizu in Promenade, Greenhills. These were the desserts we had:

Samba

Amour (Chocolate Orange Cake, this is what I had)

Strawberry cheesecake (I think)

Molten chocolate something (No, she did not finish all these by herself. She shared it with the rest of us ;p)

Must try

It was a loser Saturday afternoon because I reported for work to finish a ton of paper works. Fast forward to around 9 p.m., I was hungry and thirsty for a few bottles of beer. I sent a text message to my high school friend Kim asking what were his plans. He said he’ll be meeting up with some of his other friends and might go up to Tagaytay. Had nothing to do that night, open to meeting new friends and wanted to do something spontaneous so I told him to wait for me at his house and I’ll join them.

From Ortigas, I was in Paranaque in less than 30 minutes. Then from Paranaque we drove to Manila to pick-up Kim’s friends and back to Paranque to load up with alcohol. After a bucket of beer, a plate of sisig and a pitcher of an alcohol mix we were off to Tagaytay, this was a little past 1 a.m..

2 a.m., foggy Tagaytay road

Our first stop in Tagaytay was a bar that I forgot the name. Had another bucket of beer to load up more alcohol then went to a 24/7 bulalo place. Tagaytay is associated with bulalo because there is a cattle trading area in Tagaytay where cows from Laguna and Batangas are brought for auction.

Ready for your bulalo craving at anytime

Tagaytay is a cool place that is why there is no need for air conditioning. No need to make the place look fancy (just the uniforms), cowboy naman mga tao dito. ;p

BULALO!

Bantayan ang mga bata…

A little past 4 in the morning we had taho in Tagaytay before driving down back to Manila. We were the buena mano customers of the taho vendor and while enjoying our taho, there was a "taong grasa" who approached us and asked a light from my friend and he kept saying, "Domo Arigato, Sharon Cuneta!" after his cigarette was lighted. Have no idea what is the relation between the two. Haha.
At 6 a.m. I finally was at the comfort of my bed any soft pillows. ☺ Though it was tiring, I enjoyed the spontaneous night I had. Ang dami palang nating pwede puntahan dito Inday pag lumuwas ka. Sana lang eh maitakas ko ang sasakyan ni amo sa day off ko. ;p

Ayo! Ayo!

Anyhow... JerJer's?!?!

Pssst! Inday!

I don’t know if it was because of the coffee I drank in Starbucks this evening but for some reason I am in the mood to write another update.

Filipinos now seems to be more open to exploring different restaurants aside from the usual fast food chains or commercialized restaurants that have several branches, myself included. I like discovering new places where there are good eats. Of course, I am also particular with the price, I want the place to have great food that are reasonably priced. Aside from the great variety of flavorful food that emerging restaurants offer, another factor that makes them attractive is the names owners give their restaurants. I was driving along E. Rodriguez in Quezon City the other day when I passed by this restaurant. I am not sure whether the restaurant is under construction or it is already out of business but the name and slogan is very catchy… Inihaw… Ini-time… Ini-day

Anyhow Inihaw

Another interesting name I saw, this time in a restaurant along Timog Avenue in Quezon City is this.

Ma-L and green ang mga taga Davao

I was likewise surprised to see the name of this barbeque place and I wonder what is happening inside. Will try to eat here so that I can give you an update on what is inside. ;p

An opportunity to pretend that we know how to play bowling came up. There is a tournament this coming Saturday and we were invited to join. Nung hinire ako ng amo ko last year, I was also semi-forced to join even if I do not know how to play. On tournament day, I played a key role on keeping our score low so that we can be categorized in the lowest division. Once we were included in division C or D (the lowest division), my team mates brought out their real games and we eventually won 1st runner up. If it wasn’t for my terrible game we would not be under this division and would not have won any trophy.

We played at e-lanes in San Juan

Wish us luck that we can have a repeat performance or better on Saturday.

Ayo! Ayo!

Ride her smooth and slow

Maayong buntag Inday!

I treated Simone for a shower and wax last Sunday. This is the first time she had a wax since we first got together. I like riding her after she gets out from the shower so just imagine my desire and urge to ride her smooth and slow after her waxing session. Ang kinis and sexy niya. Whew! ;p

BNT Car wash, where Simone had her shower and wax ;p

Took Simone for a spin last Sunday around Manila and saw this taxi that has names painted on its back. The names were “Kat-Kat, Vin-Vin and Ta-Ta”. It made me remember a friend who calls my boss “Dam-Dam” or “Dadam”. Imagine, they just met but she already gave my boss petnames? Gwapa naman ata siya kaya my boss found his new petnames cute and actually liked it. :) Aside from that, it also made me think why Filipinos love giving repeating names like Jun-Jun, Tan-Tan, Lin-Lin, Che-Che, Ton-Ton, Chin-Chin even our president’s name is repeating Noy-Noy. It’s not very creative but I guess parents use it so that the name will have a recall on others and to their child because the name is repeated twice. Haha.

Poot-Poot! Para! Para!

Sunset corner Seaside

Although I do not stop to eat or buy something from the mall, I like passing by the Mall of Asia at night. I pass there, driving slowly and look at the people who cross the streets and those that walk along the strip of restaurants. I can’t remember if nakaluwas ka na ng Manila but in case you have not been to that Mall of Asia and watch at the Imax Theater perhaps we can do this pag nakaipon ka at makaluwas. If you want, from the pier we can go straight here. ;p Dako lagi ng screen nito kaya it’s very… the word is in the tip of my tongue… basta it makes you feel as if you are in the movie. Was able to watch Avatar (3D) in Imax. Wow! What an experience! I was speechless after the movie because I felt I was in the world the Avatars were in and made me think that the world portrayed in the movie exists.

Halong ka lang diyan Inday!

Kiat si Dodong

Inday,

Pinasali si Dodong sa isang seminar! After a year I was finally sent to a seminar by my boss. Anyway, I just want to share what happened today because you will be proud of Dodong. ;p

The 2-day seminar which will last until tomorrow is about intrapreneurship. Don’t want to explain this further because Dodong already had enough nose bleed today. First challenge for the participants was for our respective groups to build a convenience store out of barbeque sticks, straw, newspaper and masking tape. Limited time was given to build the tallest, most stable and creative convenience store. Dodong is not an engineer but he played a key role in the building of the most stable and tallest convenience store. The height of our convenience store was only eye level. But thinking fast, I thought of taping together several straws tape one end at the topmost part of our convenience store and tape the other end on the ceiling. Nasigurado kong hindi tutumba yung tower naming. We won the challenge.

Champion!

Next challenge was to come up with a group name. This is no longer a contest but the group name Dodong thought of had the most impact, TEAM POGI (Profit Oriented Group of Intrapreneurs). Nose bleed ulit so let’s leave it there. Basta POGI kami. ;p

TEAM POGI

Last challenge for the day was to come up with an advertisement that we will use to attract target customers to a fictional service that we plan to offer. Again, it was Dodong who thought of these lines for TEAM POGI’s advertisement for a massage chair. Lumabas na naman ang pagka-lasalyano at kiat ni Dodong.

Sabik sa Ginhawa?

These were Dodongs accomplishments for today. Hahaha. Proud na ba si Inday?

Ayo! Ayo!

Eating Chinese food does not make you Chinese

Good morning Inday,

Saturday, fortunately I did not have any work today. But being the workaholic person that I am lately, I want to be productive and I know staying at home would not let me do that. The bed, couch and television call me when I am at home. I decided to go for a drive to Intramuros in Manila and go to my favorite coffee shop there. Not really sure why I call it favorite but I like going to the coffee shop.

From bullets to coffee

They transformed this old bunker in Intramuros into a nice coffee shop. I do not know how this bunker was used before but I just have this feeling that it was also used to store and keep bullets. I want to be nerdy and give you historic facts about this specific bunker or of the whole Intramuros but I think I am too lazy lately to do that. The place was always peaceful when I first discovered the place. But now local and foreign tourists frequent the place. You just have to be patient and wait for people to leave if you want to experience silence in the place.

Cityplace (look, the billboard is in Chinese)

After finishing ang pinag ipunang grande cup of green tea frapuccino, I decided to do more driving until I passed by Binondo/Chinatown. Here I saw the old project I handled on my first job diri sa Manila after ako lumuwas. On my previous employer I handled the collections of payments and buyer problems for the Cityplace at the Binondo condominium; it's a 60-story twin-tower condominium at the heart of Chinatown. When I started no one wanted to handle the account because it had problems with the city government and most important of all, language barrier with the unit buyers because they were all G..I.’s ore Genuine Intsik. These are Chinese people who migrated to the Philippines from China. There is this one time that I had to talk to a certain client and since I know na G.I. sila, I asked the help from one of the bosses of sales who knows how to speak Chinese to come with me and be my translator. I told him what I wanted to happen and he did all the talking and negotiations for me.

People always think that I am Chinese and some even talk to me in Chiniese. So what I did during our meeting is what I always do when someone is talking to me in Chinese, I just smile, nod my head, pretending I understand what they were saying. Hehe. ☺ And it works! =p

Had dinner with friends Saturday night and we ate at The Legend Seafood. Sobrang lami ng food here and the price is very reasonable.

The Legend

SHRIMPS

Ang appetizer na ulam na for me

Though it is meant to be an appetizer, the assorted cold cuts they serve in Chinese restaurants is already an ulam for me. I like the century egg, the white chicken, the jellyfish and the minced ginger with oil that you place over the white chicken. Ohh this is making me hungry. Hehe.

Yun lang muna Inday for now. Will keep you posted on my other adventures here in Manila.

Ayo! Ayo!

HAI: The place that never fails

Inday,

Ang dami kayo sexy billboards diri sa Manila and it gets to be very distracting (as if I am not liking the distraction ;p). I remember almost hitting a car in front of me because I was staring at Eula Valdez’s billboard for Belo Medical Group. That billboard was hot… sizzling. Billboards of Angel Locsin for Folded and Hung are also very distracting. Picture Angel Locsin in a pair of bikini and she’s leaning forward, I am drowning by staring at her front assets. Hahaha. But a recent billboard that never fails to distract me and make my jaw drop on my way to work is this billboard of Katrina Halili. What I appreciate about this billboard is that Katrina Halilia was able to redeem herself from the scandal she was involved with; well this is just for me.

Morning distraction

My colleagues together with our “amos” from work had a birthday celebration for my birthday and the birthdays of two “kasamahan” at work. We had the celebration at Hai Resto & Bar. It serves good Chinese food and cheap alcohol that is why we never fail to leave the place sober. Our record here is finishing 10 bottles of Jose Cuervo. Last night I think we only had 3 bottles. I had one accident per month from December 2009 to March 2010 because of Hai. I learned my lesson now, I still leave Hai drunk BUT I now stop at gasoline stations to take short naps instead of fighting the alcohol while driving home. ;p

The place that never fails to make us drunk

Calm before the storm

The salt n pepper squid of Hai is excellent; it’s soft and very flavorful. Another all time favorite food that I order here is the lechon macao rice toppings. The crispy fried piece of pork is placed on top of a generous serving of yang chow rice.

As expected, the night ended us not being able to walk straight.

Ingat Inday!

Lisensya para maka drive

Dear Inday,

Driver jud ang profession natin diri in Manila and it is very important that I have my driver’s license renewed. I know the line in LTO will be long that is, that is why I decided to go there early. It was around 7 am when I arrived in LTO, the transaction windows were still closed but there was already a line for those applying for a driver’s license. It took me a total of 3 hours to have my license renewed, and because I was late in renewing my license I had a penalty fee of Php 75.00

Waiting for my turn to pay in the cashier

For your reference when you decide to get a license

After getting my new license, I reported to work, stayed in the office for about an hour or two then rushed to Quezon City for a meeting. Driver lang ta so I just drove to go to the meeting. ;p The customer that I went to was along Banawe Street in Quezon City. This is the street famous with car enthusiasts because they get best bargains here for car accessories and other auto parts. When you say “Banawe” it is immediately associated with cars that is why there is a car accessory shop in Davao named Banawe (just forgot what street it is in, but I have an idea where it is) Used to go here a lot when I was in high school when I was “pimping” my old trusted Lancer. I miss that car. Banawe street is very close to my heart. Aside from cheap car accessories, the reason why it is very dear to me is because the hospital (Children’s Medical) where I was born is along Banawe street.

Banawe pimpin

One place that I always make sure to visit when I am in the area is Ma Mon Luk, a Chinese restaurant famous for its Original Mami and Special Siopao. Ma Mon Luk siopao is my favorite. Ma Mon Luk has been operational since 1920 and after several decades, it is still operational and doing strong in business. The proper way of eating the Original Mami is by putting the siopao sauce in your Mami. The small serving of the Original Mami costs Php 85.00 while the Special Siopao is at Php 55.00.

The place is still old school, even some of the servers

Ma Mon Luk specialties (see the siopao sauce on the mami?)

If you like siopao and mami, I’ll make sure to bring you here after makababa ka ng barko from Mindano. Sige Inday, matulog na ako at maaga pa jud ako magmaneho tom.

Ayo! Ayo!