friday gimik

First things first, I’d like to say brace yourselves...this is going to be a long blog entry! Because I really had a loooong Friday night/early Saturday morning.

Now that you’re well aware of what’s in store for you…proceed with caution!hehehe

I must say that when it comes to friends…I’m super blessed!

Last Friday, I had a dinner with my lawschool friends. I’ve been working my ass (pardon my french!) off the whole week, and I terribly miss my girlfriends. This “meeting” is long over due. I think the last time we had our dinner was last September and I had a near-death (or mutilation) experience as I wait for others to arrive…anyhow that is another story.

The traffic was hell, by the way. What I surmised to be a less than 15-minute cab ride took me about 45minutes! I dunno if it’s the weekend coming, or the Christmas rush,the sudden rain-pour or a highway accident...but it was terrible! I think it would’ve been better if I took the mrt, but I was wearing a dress and heels so double no, no!

I was about 30minutes late…but so was C, who also got stuck in traffic coming from the other end of Quezon City! The Ortigas/Pasig peeps came (surprisingly) just on time. Yes, I used the word “surprisingly”, because V is more often than not late during our “meetings”. And since we (C and I) were not at Podium yet, they decided to shop a bit at St. Francis Square. I was too tired to look for them so I told them that since C is expected to arrive anytime at Podium, I’ll just wait for all of them at the mall’s Starbucks.

I read my book as I waited. I also ordered a tall Toffee Nut Frappucino (just to complete the stickers for my planner!—I still have 2 more to go, yey!) Then came C. We chat for awhile about horrors and romance in the office until M and V arrived.

M and C were terribly hungry thus we scoured the whole 5 levels of Podium just to look for a good place to eat. I think I’ve went up and down the escalator 4 times just to look for good restaurant.

Earlier in the morning before we met, I googled the restaurants in the mall, but to no avail…(V was teasing me about this...she said that "googling" was such a nerdy-behavior! what can i say, inside of me is a nerd) In the end, I still wasn’t able to find which resto is good for us. Later on they (well, we all did) settled to dine at Banana Leaf.

the name and soon...uhmmm the name?!? hehe

true to its name, we used banana leaves as our plates

As this is my first time there, I can say I am quite disappointed—BIG time! V and I teamed up for our “meal” while C and M decide on theirs. As C and M were pretty hungry, they ordered three meals, while V and I were confident (based on pictures) ordered just two meals.

the appetizer

C and M ordered baby back ribs, some vegetables (we later on referred as “damo”), fried rice and a sort of garlic calamares. On the other hand, V and I ordered plain rice, grilled squid and fried chicken with stuffed sticky rice. We even almost not include the plain rice since we said that the chicken we ordered is stuffed with rice, as it is! Good thing we came to our senses and ordered one or else we would've starved!

baby back ribs

the infamous fried chicken stuffed with sticky rice
(we were trying to illustrate its size, but we too, failed!)


my plain rice


i forgot what this was...we just called it "damo"

C and M’s baby back ribs arrived first. It was big enough for the two of them. Then came our fried chicken order…too small! The picture in the menu did not give justice to its size!!! We were truly disappointed… bordering on the feeling that we were somehow, in a way, deceived. And the taste is not so good either! The sticky rice inside was too sweet. One bite and we all lost our appetite…ayayay! How they come up with such dish, we cannot fathom! Promise! C tried it also and she is not contented with it either. (note: C is not the type who usually say no to food…but this one she declined!) We suggest that it’s a good meal for those on diet because you will surely forget that you’re even hungry to begin with! On the other hand, their garlic calamares was GOOOOD! I loved it! Their grilled squid is just alright. The baby back ribs are good too. So was their “damo!” hehehe. Over-all, the food was just okay for me...if there’s any consolation, I liked their ambiance! 

our table, filled with food...
this is the only pic that captured how small the
fried chicken was--just look at upper left side of the picture!!!

Next stop, we (well, THEY) had to have alcohol in their system. I have loooong ago sworn off alcohol (due to my allergies) but that night I had re-lapse! Yes, my sobriety coin was ignored that night! I’ve forgotten the name of the resto/bar where we had our drinks…all I knew was that its somewhere on the ground floor of El Pueblo—a walking distance from Podium. (we literally walked all the way there!)

our drinks
(clockwise:) V's San Mig Light, M's Margarita,
C's Margarita and my two Screwdrivers

My friends are truly hilarious! Even before we had our drinks, we were emphasizing the first syllables of the words (which we found funny—that time!).

Just to give you an example:

Waiter: your order ma’m

C: let’s have cocktails. What do you want to drink?

(We saw that its buy one take one for cocktail drinks for P165. I decided to share it with C.)

Me: Oh, I’ll have a cocktail too!

V: Oh you want a COCKtail?

Me: Yes, I want a COCKtail…how about you?

V: I’ll just have a beer…San Mig light .

C: I want a margarita.

M: I want a margarita as well… (simply put C and M teamed up!)

V: so, what’s your COCKtail?

Me: my COCKtail is…SCREWdriver, please! (note: that this time, I’m not even drunk…not even a little bit! I’m blaming the craziness to that nasty chicken we ate earlier in the evening!)

my culprit # 1

my culprit # 2

For someone who is trying to shy away from alcohol, I ended up with two glasses of screwdriver, since there was a buy one take one promo. C and M just had one margarita each while V had two bottles of beer. It was a fun time indeed. We never run out of crazy topics to discuss.

One fun topic we had was about my happy crush. Yes, I know. Its sooo highschool, but what the heck! They were giving me tips on how to “snag” happy crush. V was so graphic with her descriptions, it was sooo funny!

Examples:

Tip 1: They said that I should say to happy crush these words…”let’s role play...” (this is more of an inside joke…if you knew us, you’ll understand)

Tip2: Pretend Freudian slip! ”So this orifice…uhm I mean office…”(PG 18?!?)

Tip3: Pretend wardrobe malfunction! A slip of the sleeves here, a low neckline there…a missing hemline! You imagine it!

Tip4: Cherries. Have a jar full of cherries on my table while I practice knotting the stems… then say (while knotting some stems-repeatedly wahahaha), "how do you prefer your knots?" and must be said in my sultriest, most alluring, husky voice ever!

I swear, there are more funny lines and scenarios given that they said I should utter and do to happy crush! I don’t think I have the guts to pull off any of what they’ve advised me to say/do…PLUS I don’t think THEY can say/do those stuffs either! But it was sure fun imagining them hahaha

It was raining when we called it a night since C still has work in the morning. We got drenched in the rain. Only V had the enough sense and foresight of bringing an umbrella!

We accompanied C in the parking lot and she dropped us off at Megamall thinking that there will be less competition there at the taxi bay—we were wrong! We thought we could stay a bit until only few people are on the line (at taxi bay) however Megamall's Starbucks was filled as well and we had no choice but to brave the rain and go back to Podium.

By the time we arrived at Podium, we were soaking wet! And we were uber COLD brrrrr! Starbucks Podium is quite filled with peeps… then we then went to UCC (a thundercats venue, based on the customers waiting outside!). M and V ordered a cake and a soda, respectively. I, on the other hand just wanted some water. 

Their espresso machine is already closed for the night and they can only offer brewed coffee. I don’t like brewed coffee in the evening, when I know I’ll be hitting the sack right after I arrive home. So just house water please.

V was already freezing cold. Her jacket got wet from the rain...we cannot afford to get sick, with her having tons of work waiting to be accomplished and us, (well, we too have things to do! hehehe). We then hopped to Starbucks Podium and ordered frappucinos (decaffeinated!) which doesn’t help coz they’re cold drinks! Even I were freezing…my legs, mostly! We chat for a little bit hoping the rain would stop. But when 2am came and no signs of the rain slowing down, we went ahead and hailed for a cab.

The actual “hailing” of a cab was no so smooth-sailing either! I think, it took us about 30-40 minutes waiting for a cab.

They said that traffic was still not good along EDSA. M and V let me took the first cab and they took a cab home after I left.

It was a loooong night, indeed! But I have the bestest friends ever…and the day didn't seem long while I was with them! It was fun being with them, not minding the worries of work, family, other friends, lovelife and life in general!

Loooong, tiring but fun-filled day!

prettytwistedchick