bonjour, manila!
exactly a week ago, i dropped off philippe at the airport. he was in town for four short days only. but as they say, better than nothing, right? he skipped took a break from school for two days, and came by to see me and my hometown for the weekend. our itinerary was pretty packed, and was even more so when “unexpected” circumstances came up. but we made the most of it, and got to do stuff we love doing together.
» DAY 1: BONJOUR, MANILA!
philippe’s flight out of beijing got delayed, so he missed his connecting flight in HK. my brother and i eventually picked him up at the airport two hours later than planned. we then headed home for dinner where my mom prepared some home-cooked filipino goodness. philippe also got to meet my entire family for the first time. while he’s met my parents before in LA, he’s never met my siblings, nephews and nieces “in the flesh” (only virtually via skype). philippe had his taste of lechon kawali, chicken tinola, sotanghon guisado, and many more. it was a good night.
welcome to manila, mon amour!
dinner at “camp oz” with mi familia
» DAY 2: CONQUERING THE CBD
we set out early the following morning because philippe needed to fix his student visa at the chinese embassy in makati (central business district). * side note: i was supposed to take him to a restaurant i had booked for in advance (a month ahead!), but since something came up, we had to cancel it. just glad i got to rebook it for the following day. * we finally got out of the embassy by lunch time, and decided to go to the fort to check out aubergine, a french restaurant & patisserie i stumbled upon while researching for places to take him to while he’s in town. you see, philippe has some very discriminating taste buds, so i was somewhat pressured and was definitely on a mission to impress him with some filipino fine dining experiences. not exactly sure what his expectations were, but philippe was pleasantly surprised at how good the food was, and gave aubergine his seal of approval. not bad, coming from a french man!
(1), (2), (3) foie gras & duck sampler, lobster salad and creme brulee
(4) satisfied lunchers
after lunch, we cabbed it back home to rest for a bit before setting out again for dinner. i had made plans to take philippe to a nice japanese restaurant since we both absolutely love japanese food! i decided to take him to sugi, a place i hadn’t been to since my college graduation. i just remember having good food there, and i basically just crossed my fingers hoping that it was still as good. reservations were made for 7pm, and philippe and i didn’t get to leave until after 6pm. we knew we were going to miss our reservation and were just banking on getting a table as walk-ins. thanks to manila traffic, and the ever-so-difficult task of finding parking, we didn’t get to the restaurant til about 8pm. luckily, our corner table was still waiting for us when we got to sugi. i know, it was pretty crazy of me to venture back into the CBD on a friday night, but i wanted philippe to have a glimpse of what a night out in the city is like.
(1) philippe checking out the menu
(2) his drinks alone — asahi super dry & sake, onegaishimasu!
(3), (4), (5) hamachi, mackerel and ikura sushi
(6) wagyu beef goodness
(7) kampai! i was designated driver, so i literally had a sip of it.
dinner at sugi was still good, but admittedly, philippe and i had better in LA. we were content on having our fill of yellowtail sashimi and wagyu beef…and of course, he was even happier to gulp down his asahi super dry and sake. after dinner, we walked around greenbelt, past all the frenzied restaurants and bars, and philippe got see what nightlife is like in manila. we wanted to catch a movie, but all the theaters were packed, and we didn’t want to stay out too late since we already had a pretty long day. as if philippe’s first full day in manila wasn’t long enough, it took me 2.5 hours to drive him back to his hotel. as long as i had a happy napping camper on the passenger seat, it was all well worth it.
» DAY 3: ROAD TRIP TO THE SOUTH
if the day before, we headed to makati city, north of where i lived, on day 3, i drove philippe to tagaytay city, a city some 34 miles south of manila in the province of cavite. i was taking him to antonio’s for lunch — the restaurant i had reserved for a month in advance (and rebooked for just the day before). i had heard so much about this restaurant, and even philippe read about it through blogs. we just had to see for ourselves and prove that it was not all hype. as it turned out, antonio’s is an excellent place…pricey, but very good. the food, the presentation, the service and the ambiance all made for a perfect afternoon away from the city.
(1), (2) welcome to antonio’s!
(3), (4) loved the interiors
(5) philippe’s bloody mary; (6) my frozen mojito
(7), (8), (9) three kinds of foie gras dishes — i was in cloud 9!
(10), (11), (12) soup, sea bass, sorbet
(13) pic with owner-chef antonio escalante
after lunch, i drove back (through some traffic, of course), and we decided to just spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out near my place. first, i took philippe to see our house under construction. then, we went to the mall and got philippe some brand spankin’ new TOMS shoes. we had dinner at a fast-food joint — it was philippe’s idea to go to jollibee. if i’m not mistaken, he just wanted to eat light and leave room for his popcorn. genius move, philippe! we ended the night watching karate kid. thank you, festival mall, for being the only theater to still show this movie amidst all the twilight/eclipse madness.
philippe’s trip to manila was short, but sweet. i could only wish he stayed longer, or perhaps, that he’d visit again. *hint, hint* i was very happy that he got to meet my family, and see what my life is like here. for now, we’re back to skype chats…until our next rendezvous. now that he’s seen my hometown, what could be next? ;)
