* confessions of a dork.

30 is the new 20!

remember this:

that’s the description that goes on my blog’s sidebar.  what’s wrong with it, you ask?  apart from the fact that i don’t really have the body of a 7-year-old, i am no longer a 20-something either.  yes, i entered a new decade a few weeks back, so this description is in need of some serious updating (at least one to last another decade or so).

my birthday fell on ash wednesday, so the day itself was short of anything spectacular, to put it bluntly.  though i took a birthday leave from work, i was fasting and abstaining the whole day (as i do every year), and had my first full meal at 8pm.  in fact, i spent a good portion of the day just napping and catching up on lost sleep.  but of course, i would not let this milestone pass without a real celebration…or at least, my friends made sure of that. so the weekend after my birthday, they organized a “surprise” get-together for me.  okay, maybe i wasn’t 100% surprised about it — but all i knew was that they had planned something because one of my friends asked permission if they could “steal” me for my birthday weekend.  i didn’t have a clue where we were going, what we were doing, and who were invited…despite my relentless efforts in probing, no one would drop me any hints.  so i guess that counts as a real surprise, right?

cut to the chase, my friends took me to izakaya kikufuji, a japanese restaurant tucked away in the CBD’s little tokyo.  i had always been curious about this place because each time we drove past it, there would be droves of japanese diners coming in and out of the restaurant.  for someone who absolutely loves japanese food, i took that as a good sign that this place is authentic and definitely worth trying. okay, maybe it looks old and shabby from the outside, but in all honestly, a lot of the restaurants our family frequented in nagoya when we were based in japan looked just like that.

(1) & (2) いらしゃいませ！ a taste of japan in the middle of the metro

(3) jen, pie, me, chema; (4) anna & alvin

(5) joey, jeremy, grace; (6) dino, jen, pie

inside the restaurant, my friends and i kicked off our shoes and kicked it japanese-style with traditional tatami mat seating as we feasted on sushi, sashimi, mega-sized donburi, and sukiyaki.  i was beyond stuffed, bordering on gluttony, trying to eat like a sumo wrestler.

(1) california maki; (2) maguro sashimi

(3) tempura; (4) katsu-ju

(5) chicken teriyaki donburi; (6) sukiyaki

いただきます！ (enjoy!)

after our sumptuous dinner, we headed to the posh-er side of the CBD (greenbelt, that is) for some drinks at barcino, a spanish wine and tapas bar.  the night was still young, as we poured out bottles of white muscat and rosé one after the other, and exchanged stories and lively banter.

(1) & (2) the birthday crew at barcino

(3) loved their take on the traditional chalked up specials

(4) white muscat to start the night off

(5) bottomless rosé

(6) awesome foursome!

yes, i am so lucky to have such awesome friends!  i give them props for creating a night that brought together three things i absolutely love — great japanese food, wine, and the company of amazing friends.  i’ve said it before, and i’d say it again: i wouldn’t have spent this milestone any other way.  it was just perfect.

thank you, dear friends!  i am truly grateful.  can i turn 30 again, so we can do this all over again? *wink, wink*

home is where the heart is.

about a month ago (valentine weekend, to be exact), we made the “big move” — in fact, so big that to this day, we have not fully moved-in since we still have about 5% of our stuff in the old house (at least, i still have a cabinet-full).  our new home has been in construction for at least a year-and-a-half (or so…i lost count already), so when a moving truck became conveniently available one weekend, my dad decided it was time.  forget that construction in the basement was still on-going at the time.  i guess, when the opportunity comes, you have to grab it.

architect’s perspective of our dream home

moving — be it to a new home, a new job, a new school, or another country (name it, we’ve all been there at one point) — always deals us with a mixed bag of emotions.  i was definitely excited to have a change in environment, and the prospect of turning the arduous task of decorating the new home into my “personal project”, but i also knew that i was going to miss dear old “camp oz”.  i also had to add 15-30 minutes to my daily work commute, not to mention, pumping more gas weekly to cover the extra distance (the skyrocketing oil/gas prices even made it a little painful in the pocket too!).  moving definitely brought back horrific memories of having to pack-unpack, and leave people and things behind, be it temporarily or for good.  for someone who’s had to go through relocation at least seven times already, i would think i’d be an expert at this.  but unfortunately, i still am not because each experience posed its own challenges.  but at the end of the day, after all the dust have been dusted off, after all the boxes have been (almost) unpacked, and after all the backaches and sore muscle from moving are gone, i am thankful to come home to a place where our family can create more memories to last our lifetimes.

welcome to our home: dream made reality

looking forward to many gatherings and meals shared here with family

weekend breakfast al fresco has been a new “thing” with our family

simply love coming home to this every day

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? ;)

work hard, play hard.

it’s been over a month since my last post.  i’ve got no other excuse for that, except that i’ve been busy.  as you might have guessed from the title, i have landed a job, and have been working full-time (again!) for the past 6 weeks.  i’d like to think my trip to beijing brought me luck.  before then, i had been actively looking for a job and running interviews here and there…but nothing solid really came out of them.  a few days after my beijing vacay, i got a call from my current company, went on a string of interviews, and eventually got offered a job within the month.

i work for a business process outsourcing (BPO) company — an industry that is booming now in the philippines.  i’m not gonna go into detail about what i exactly do, but let’s just say i like it.  i feel very blessed that i found a job that i genuinely find interesting, is very challenging, and actually puts to good use my MBA.  finally, things are paying off!  and as if things couldn’t get any better, i work close to home, and have flexible work hours.  i actually drive to work now, which is a major feat considering how much i’ve dreaded driving the streets of manila since i came back from LA.  i guess desperate times do call for desperate measures…and i give myself a pat on the back for that.

in a few days, i would’ve reached the end of my second month at work.  (i had forgotten how quickly time flies when you’re working busy.)  i say that calls for a celebration, no?  what better way to celebrate than with people near and dear to me.  by the end of the month, my sister’s family is flying back from their “desert home” before relocating “down under”.  this’ll be the first time since 2007 that our family will be complete again.  and as an added bonus, philippe is also visiting me for the weekend.

i. can’t. hardly. wait.