Just Another Wednesday

Been missing my big sister, Ate Candy, lately… And yesterday morning, I got a long distance phone call from Canada! 🙂  What a pleasant surprise!!!  While we were chatting, I realized that I’m nine years younger than her. LOL! I never felt that she was nine years older than me.  I’ve always felt like she was just about three or four years older 🙂  Haha! But twenty years wiser indeed 🙂  You were the only one missing today, Ate!  You missed a great Korean lunch. (More about my Ate soon…)

It’s usually a tradition for the birthday celebrant in the family to treat everyone to a good meal.  So I decided to take mine to this Korean restaurant in Greenbelt 5 called Bulgogi Brothers.  My whole family was complete except for my big sister and my little boy who was still recovering from his illness 😦

Bulgogi Brothers was a very nice place 🙂  For starters, they gave us this plate of corn, sweet potato and quail eggs.

Hot tea for everyone!

Thanks to my dearest family for having lunch with me today 🙂

More starters! I love kimchi 🙂

Korean Salad?

There were two electric stoves in our table where some dishes will be cooked 🙂  This first dish is called Seoul Bulgogi.  Kind of reminds me of Sukiyaki.  It was really good.  The sauce was great with my steamed rice.

This dish is good for 2-3 persons. It's sliced beef with vegetables. Bulgogi broth is made of fruits, onions and soy sauce.

Cute utensils 🙂

Bibimbap! I like to call it Korean Paella 🙂

One of their specialties. Mandu 🙂 Like a fried potsticker.

Japchae 🙂 One of my favorite Korean dishes. And those noodle-like rice sticks that surround it was unusual! 🙂 It was chewy and surprisingly yummy! 🙂

Galbijjim or Braised Short Ribs.

Another specialty of theirs. Rib eye! Medium rare 🙂 Just the way I like it!

Dipping sauces and salt 🙂

More meat!!! Short rib 🙂

That was a very good and filling lunch! 🙂 I'm always happy after eating a Korean meal.

And for the finale, ice cream in a waffle shaped like a fish with red bean/jam filling. It's heaven in a fish's tail 🙂

That was one heavy lunch!  My brother, Chris, and I were planning to take the 4pm Bikram Yoga class.  But after this meal, we knew it wasn’t a good idea.  So we decided to take the 6pm class.  And what a treat! One of my favorite yoga teachers, Joyce, was teaching!!! 🙂

Joyce has been teaching at Bikram Yoga Manila for about three years now and her classes have been the hottest, funniest, most musical classes I’ve ever been in 🙂  She’s almost leaving Manila and I will miss her and her classes so much! So happy I got to spend my birthday with her in the hotbox 🙂  Speaking of musical, she made my brother sing the birthday song at the end of class! LOL!  So funny seeing my classmates, some were complete strangers, strumming their air guitars while he was singing.  Bwahahaha! Nice one, Joyce! 🙂

 I love ya to bits, Teacher Joyce! I will miss you sooooo much!!! 😦  Thank you for all the hours we’ve spent together in the torture chamber! I will await your return 🙂

This was taken during the launch of Chris' album, Heartbeat 🙂

After my ninety minutes of pain, my dear husband and I had another great meal in Apartment 1B in Salcedo Village.  I thought I was still full from lunch but after that class, I was ready to eat again. Haha! 🙂

I had crab cakes on a salad while Dante had a beef burger 🙂 Love this place!

AND, they gave me a little slice of cheesecake with a birthday candle! How sweet! 🙂  I wasn’t able to take a video or photo but when the staff of Apartment 1B gave me my cake,  the guard played the birthday song using his whistle.  LOL!  It sounded quite good! 🙂  I was just so impressed that I forgot to take his photo or video! 🙂  Darn! He was really good! 🙂

Birthdays to me are constant reminders of all the things I’m thankful for in my life 🙂  It was just an ordinary Wednesday.  But I heard from old friends whom I haven’t seen in years, I got calls and such sweet messages from the people I’ve had the privilege of working with and knowing, a long distance call from my Ate, a wonderful lunch with my family, time for myself in the hotbox, a lovely dinner with my soulmate…

… and a beautiful bouquet from the two men in my life.

But the truth is, these special people exist in my life every single day.  I don’t need my birthday to come along to realize it 🙂

Starting today, every ordinary day should feel like my birthday! 🙂 Everyday, I will be grateful 🙂

A Sustainable Birthday Dinner

I have so many special people in my life who celebrate their birthdays during the busiest month of the year… December. So aside from pigging out during Christmas parties and events, I also look forward to a lot of birthday celebrations 🙂 Another one of my bestfriends and beloved partner at Belle & Cat is Isabel 🙂 Her birthday is on December 16.  It’s that time of the year when Manila goes crazy.  Traffic, long lines, full parking everywhere, especially in the malls.  So Isabel decided to find a good restaurant that’s not in a mall, away from the traffic and still had space for a table for seven 🙂

So she made reservations at Le Bistro Vert in Salcedo Village.  They serve Filipino Fusion Cuisine and sustainable food.  They say that sustainable food is healthier for people and the planet 🙂

Here is Isabel on the left, Claudette in the middle and Angela on the right 🙂 Angela, who also just celebrated her birthday last November 28. Check out my previous post 🙂

Here I am with Emma.  Another one of my bestfriends who lives in Sydney, Australia 🙂 Wonder when I’ll get to visit her there and try Kangaroo sausages… or maybe not.

A fresh glass of dalandan juice.

A hot bowl of pumpkin soup.

Longganiza, Pork Tocino and Beef Tapa sampler as appetizers. Oh I wish they had garlic rice with this sampler 🙂

Sausage platter with potato salad.

Isabel and Dante ordered corned beef. Tasted like kaldereta.  Yum.

My order was pork belly.  Yum yum yum.  Happy with my order.

Claudette’s order, short ribs 🙂 Pretty yummy, too.

Brown rice. Yes! I feel less bloated when I have brown rice 🙂

Now for dessert.  This Valrhona Sansrival is their bestseller 🙂

Guys!!!! Wait!!!! Let me take a picture first!

Then there was the Pandan Sansrival which no one was paying any attention to!

Good.  All for me 🙂

Lastly, we also tried the Calamansi Pie.

Not a big fan of sour cakes. hehe

Of course, my black coffee after a very good and heavy meal 🙂

Happy Birthday, dearest Isabel! 🙂 That was a perfect dinner, thank you.  No stress, good food and company from start to finish 🙂

Le Bistro Vert is located in Fraser Place Manila, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, Makati 🙂

“Tanti Auguri, Angela!”

Meet one of my bestfriends, Angela and her husband, Bastie 🙂 Some call her Mo or Mariel but I call her Anj. We celebrated her birthday last November in a cozy Italian restaurant in Legaspi Village, Makati, called La Grotta Cucina Italia.  This restaurant is literally a minute away from Belle & Cat. Isabel and I made a special request and asked Angela if we could eat somewhere near Belle & Cat that evening for her birthday.  Thankfully, she agreed! Thanks, Anj!!! And thank God, a restaurant as good as La Grotta was just nearby. We wouldn’t want to celebrate her birthday in a fastfood chain :p

Anj ordered a couple of appetizers for us.

They are as good as they look 🙂

Anj also ordered pizza and pasta but because I was so hungry, I forgot to take photos until the food was gone 🙂

Live music! 🙂

Uso pa ba ang harana? 🙂 Happy Birthday, Angela! Thanks for a wonderful Italian dinner! 🙂

La Grotta Cucina Italiana is located at #104 Angelus Medical Building, V.A. Rufino, Legaspi Village, Makati City 🙂