quickly

lately, nothing can improve my mood the way food does. especially with cold drinks and desserts, my mood can change from dull or gloomy or irritable or sulky to feeling more satisfied, content, calm and happy almost in an instant. i will leave it up to you to say whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. for now, i would simply like to share what i have found to be the best cold drinks/desserts there is in this side of the city.

rhum & raisins from milko (P12/scoop)

mocha frappucino from starbucks

taro milk shake at bubbletea in megamall

oreo caramel sundae

sadly, the oreo caramel sundae from mcdonald's is no longer available. this dessert was offered as part of the promotion for the movie "aliens vs. monsters" around may or june this year. i felt somewhat miserable after learning that this limited edition dessert is no longer part of their menu.

the taro milk shake from bubbletea is a new discovery. their store can be found at the lower ground of SM MegaMall, near the skating rink. a cheaper substitute would be the milk shakes from quickly.

everything else, i have been enjoying for quite some time now especially the milko, a default dessert after lunch which jp and i would have while strolling in the mall or sitting by the steps of a nearby staircase.

as with good food and good restaurants, i am on the lookout for new desserts, something sweet and refreshing. if you have suggestions, please do share.

spinning counterclockwise

...wishful thinking...

food trip

food, desserts, coffee, jp and me

the bluetooth feature in my phone miraculously worked without problems yesterday allowing me to upload all 51 photos from the phone's gallery into my laptop. the photos were taken from middle of last year upto just a few weeks ago documenting mostly how i have been spending my time when im neither working nor asleep: eating or having dessert with coffee, mostly hanging out with jp.

i remember a time when jp avoided rice and contented himself with bread and tuna for dinner. he would usually take his dinner after gym and ate at his office desk which was located right behind me. long gone are those tuna days. today, it seems we eat everything but bread with tuna.

there was a time when we would have "oreo w/ caramel sundae" at mcdonald's every day. another time when we would have "bunch o' lunch" at shakey's every friday. still another time when we're craving for ribs and steak. other past favorites or cravings are seafood teppanyaki, flame-grilled burgers, onion rings, donuts and jp's all-time favorite: pizza.

it's a good thing that jp and i have similar attitudes towards food and dining. we both like trying out new places to eat, obviously. but later on i have noticed that just like me, jp would often order the same dishes from these different restaurants. he would often have a favorite from a certain restaurant and would order that same dish the next time we visit the same place, with a few changes.

it is not seldom that our cravings are the same, either. here are some similarities we share when it comes to food:
(1) we both like pesto, tomato-based pasta with seafood
(2) we both like grilled fish, seafood especially with teppanyaki sauce
(3) we like baby back ribs and steak, barbeque
(4) we both like mango juice
(5) we both like coffee
(6) we both LOVE bread

there are a few differences also, but we seldom find problems with these. for example, jp likes his food extra hot and spicy so we always have to request for some hot sauce, tabasco or extra sili. jp hates talong and okra, so when we're having sinigang, these vegetables would often go to my plate. atsara which usually comes with barbecue are also often transferred to my plate, which i am always happy to accept.

some of the places we've frequented in the past are as follows:
(1) racks in megamall (for their baby back ribs)
(2) conti's in boni high street (for their filipino dishes, steaks, pastas and free coffee refill)
(3) brother's burger in boni high street (for their onion rings and flame-grilled burgers)
(4) teriyaki boy in market market (for their seafood teppanyaki and gyoza)
(5) selah in cybergate 2 (for their lunggo and cheesecakes)
(6) red kimono at the podium (for the seafood teppanyaki and tempura)
(7) when in malate, our favorite would be the kwago grill, on top of the blue room for the live acoustic music and cheap but good filipino dishes (P25 for a pork barbecue)
(8) when in eastwood city or the katipunan area, we would often dine in at fazoli's (to satisfy our pesto and garlic bread cravings) or stop-over at this Petron gasoline station near UP Diliman Campus and dine in at sicilian express (for some really good pizza and salad)
(9) when in quezon city on our way home to lola, we would sometimes stop-over at mister kebab along west avenue for some special chelo kabab with grilled tomato
(10) for our donut cravings, we go to krispy kremes at boni high (for my chocolate iced custard filled donuts) and go nuts donuts (for jp's pastillas de leche) at the Petron gasoline station in Katipunan or at the fort in taguig
(11) the coffee beanery in edsa shangri-la mall (for their pork & chicken adobo and tocino)

food featured above are from selah (cheesecake), kopi roti, sizzling pepper steak, sicilian (pizza), mcdo, UP isawan, conti's (coffee), crepes & cream, and texas smoke em (lime pie)

here are our other favorites, but have not had the chance to visit again:
(1) cafe ysabel (for the ambience and excellent quality of food) in san juan
(2) cafe juanita (for their bagnet and other filipino dishes) in mandaluyong city
(3) restaurant at the 31st floor of the vivere suites in alabang (for a fantastic view of the bay and the city)
(4) bag of beans in tagaytay (for their freshly-baked breads and fruit platter)

there are many other amazing restaurants we're interested to try out around the metropolis, restaurants you did not know existed but have had loyal followers throughout the years. i do not hope to be a food critique (i am far too simplistic for that), but i wish to get to know my city a little better and be able to share this experience of discovery and *wonder* with my friends and favorite people. if you have suggestions on where to eat next, please let me know!

here are other photos from our various food trips.

what's in the bag?

several packing lists i had to make recently. last july for the trip to HK and last august for the trip to coron, palawan. experience tells me that packing can be a lot less stressful and can even be fun if you make a list of things you need to bring a week before the actual trip and gradually acquire the things you need prior to the trip. please allow me to share the lists i came up with for these two trips, hoping to equip you or assist you in your own packing. for a 3-day/2-night trip, here's what i would normally bring:

- at least 6 t-shirts or upper garments
- 2 night shirts
- 3 walking shorts/pants
- at least one jogging pants/pajama for sleeping
- 6 pairs of undergarments
- one extra set of clothing that you can bring easily, for any emergency purposes. this should go with you on your carry-on luggage. for me, an extra shirt and an undergarment is enough.*
- the clothing you will wear on your way home
- a sports or light jacket (something you can wear on the plane or elsewhere in case it gets cold)
- indoor tsinelas

if the itinerary includes swimming, make sure you bring the following:
- sarong
- swimsuit (for me this will include a sando, shorts and bathing suit)
- beach tsinelas
- goggles and/or snorkel
- sunblock lotion
- a band, something to tie your hair with

other important items:
- a tote bag (to carry your things with you when you actually go around or island hop)
- a pair of sunglasses (also to be used when you want to get some shut-eye anytime)*
- a cap or hat (for extra sunscreen)*
- an umbrella*
- a raincoat
- a drybag (for storing your tech gadgets when traveling via boat)
- medium-sized towel
- shower kit (body wash/soap, shampoo, conditioner, facial wash & feminine wash)
- after-shower kit (lotion, anti-perspirant, powder)
- sanitary napkin (just in case)
- panty-liners*
- all-day beauty kit (lip gloss, facial moisturizer, facial powder w/ mirror, cologne, comb)*
- a lot of extra plastic bags (to contain your wet things, garbage, slippers, etc)
- oral-care kit (toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, etc)*
- a medicine kit (mine has some mefanamic acid, paracetamol, band-aids and efficascent oil)
- alcohol (the isopropyl kind) and/or hand-sanitizer*
- a face towel
- some wet towels*
- some travel tissues*
- anti-mosquito lotion
- a sewing kit (i just bring a needle, thread)
- a swiss knife (or a small pair of scissor at least)
- nail clippers
- ballpen, notebook or organizer*
- a book or magazine, devotionals (if you plan to do some reflecting)
- your travel guides (these are maps, trip itinerary, etc. i usually keep them on one ziplock)*
- your travel documents (passport, flight itinerary, also in a ziplock)*
- your wallet (with enough cash hopefully, health card & credit card)*
- cellphone*
- cellphone charger
- flashlight (even when you're not camping)
- a fan (it can really get humid sometimes)*
- some snacks (i usually bring oreos and pringles) and water (allowed in local flights)

if the itinerary includes trekking, bring a mojo sandals or any slippers/footwear with ridges for easy walking on rivers, muddy terrains. this can be the same as the beach tsinelas, but this should be different from the indoor tsinelas. so in my trips, i always bring at least two pairs of slippers. always.

if youre into photography, make sure you bring the following also:
- your camera, lenses, your filters, batteries and charger and enough CF/SD cards
- your tripod (optional)
- you may bring a laptop too and a card reader if you are checking into a hotel with good reputation. this will allow you to upload photos in case you run out of CF/SD cards (optional)
- your cleaning cloth, lens pen, blower

*these are the items i carry around everywhere in the tote bag

whew! that's it. it's obvious that im not a light-packer, but i also believe this is not too much. without the laptop, snorkel, SLR camera and its accessories, all these things can actually fit into a 30-liter mountain pack or a medium-sized travel bag. when i travel, i seldom have to check-in a baggage. in case i do, its usually just the tripod that goes in.

everything in the list (except the camera, laptop and tripod), i carried in that gray bag

having a list such as this can be amazing. the night before my two recent trips, all i had to do is look at the list and place the items in the bag one by one. it took me less than 15 minutes. its the acquiring of the things that you need that is more difficult. what i did is to buy 2 or 3 items that i need which i dont have yet on a daily basis. it took me three days of shopping around for items (mostly clothing), 1-2 hours each day.

anyway, in case you have other suggestions or find the list helpful or have questions, please feel free to let me know. im not an expert traveler, so i would love to hear suggestions from you guys also.

have a happy trip! :)

a grief ago

'There is no grief
which time does not lessen
or soften' -
so said Cicero, a man so often right;
a Stoic, those for whom
all life presents a lesson
to be learned from,
and then, to move on from..

But I wonder about all this:
is grief ever lessened or softened?
Is it not, perhaps, overlaid
in our so various ways?

For some, grief framed and falsified
to ease that grief;

For some, like hyacinths and crocus bulbs,
left in a dark cupboard in the autumn of our grief
to respond to time, and
become at last
themselves?


gently, gently, the covers pulled
over the loving bed,
the true, the pure, the lovely painful grief,
the memory deep cherished,
gently, gently, folded
into the cupboards of the heart

there to be known, without the door disturbed
until the time - 'a grief ago' as Dylan wrote -
the cupboard opened only for love's sake
without grief...:
those carefully folded memories
brought out and loved
and lived a while...

not grief, not grief...but
the pure memory of grief

and behold,
LIFE.

at the wensha spa

katz, rheih, jp and me at the wensha spa

before my 3-day trip to coron last weekend, my friends and i decided to have an evening rendezvous at the wensha spa in pasay city. it was supposed to be strictly for the girls only, but i felt that i needed to be beside JP a little bit longer before the long vacation. i literally could not let go of JP's hands and arms when it was time for me to say goodbye and take the bus to ayala where i was supposed to meet my friends. i dragged him quite easily inside the bus and declared that he was going with me to the spa instead of him going back to the office to finish his work :) fortunately, JP was not difficult to persuade -- all i had to say is that wensha spa comes with a buffet and that the bill would be on me, hehe.

from browsing several local blogs earlier, i have learned that they had a "haircut w/ back massage" service which i had planned on getting. when we got there, we found out that they are no longer offering that and had to settle for their wensha spa massage. i wasnt disappointed by that. what disappointed me more were two things: first, the receptionist at that time was not accomodating and was somewhat impatient which did not leave a good impression for first-timers like us. after giving us our "bracelet keys", she immediately shouted the next number to call the next customer. i did not recall hearing any pleasant words from this receptionist at all. my second complaint was that taking photos inside the building was prohibited. this surprised me a lot, since i saw several photos of the place taken from inside in the various blogs i saw. things have changed i guess.

from the reception area, we headed straight to the dining hall which was already filled with customers by then, this was around 930pm and the start of long weekend. i was not used to seeing people walking around in their bath robes, so i was somewhat uncomfortable. ignoring the bath robe people, we went further in until we found ourselves a table that can accomodate all four of us. i thought the place was too busy for a spa that was supposed to have a relaxing atmosphere. we were later able to confirm that it was indeed busier that night than usual.

the evening went on smoothly, though much slower than expected. we had our dinner, which we all thought was really good: we had pancit, lumpia, beef something, chicken something, tofu something... i forgot really. i was especially happy and content with the lumpia and pancit canton and had to get more than one serving. we had ice cream (mango, ube and chocolate) before heading to the locker room for a shower. it was not the special kind, but it was ice cream nonetheless and we just could not pass that up. we decided to skip the shabu-shabu and thought we could have that after our massage.

everything we needed was provided for in the locker. robes which come in sizes were available, clean white towels were unlimited, slippers, lotion, powder were also available. each person was given a plastic bracelet which serves as a key to the lockers also. i wasnt too happy to find out that my locker was impossible to reach without the use of a ladder, so i decided to share lockers with rheih. fortunately, one locker was big enough to accomodate both our things.

after shower, katrin went to take a dip on the jacuzzi pool while rheih stayed for a minutes within the steam room. i contented myself with sitting in one of the pool chairs nearby and waited for them to finish. there was a large TV in the area and i entertained myself by watching what was being shown. i wanted to try the jacuzzi pool, but could not bring myself to go in, naked all the way through. most of those who patronized the place were pinoys, some are chinese or korean, i think. that did not matter, i was self-conscious just the same. hehe.

at this point, JP had to be separated from us. the locker, shower and spa area for men are located on the opposite side. i wonder how he was enjoying the jacuzzi...

from there, we headed towards the massage area where we had to wait for an hour before getting our massage due to the number of people present that evening. we took advantage of this and tried to catch up on what's going on with each other's lives. the massage room was large enough to accomodate around 10 customers, i think. there is a wall separating the sections, and each section can contain 2 or 3 beds. light was dim as expected.

when our masseuse came, we were asked if we wanted a swedish massage or a massage with oil -- ginger or this other kind. we chose the other kind of oil, not ginger because neither of us wanted to leave the spa smelling like salabat. after one hour, we concluded that the massage was okay. the neck and head massage were really good, but something was not right with the back massage, i thought. something was missing.

as expected, we started to feel sleepy afterwards. it was almost midnight by then. we were asking ourselves if we still want to get some shabu-shabu, but since it was already too late, we thought we should head home. i told katrin that i haven't yet discovered the ultimate spa experience, one which is 100% relaxing and completely stress-free, but wensha will be among the favorites. for less than P700, its definitely a must-try especially with family and friends. im going back for sure, but hopefully, when there are less customers. i prefer more peace and quiet when i visit a spa.

that evening, i needed all the comforts a spa can offer. but more than that, i needed to be with friends, those who know me the most and love me just the same. it wasnt the perfect spa experience, but it was the perfect evening to spend with my perfect friends.