2.) Became an on-the-spot commentator at a friend's wedding
pretty flowers
with my GREAT friends
3.) Party with officemates
4.) Non-stop baking for Christmas give-aways!
5.) Celebrate Christmas and New Year with the family
PROMISE, I will start my diet tomorrow! hahaha
6.) Endless social networking
In 2012, I attended more parties and ate more food than what was really posted here. Met new friends and let go of some. Discovering new things about myself and exploring more places. Became more aware of what life has to offer. Became more accepting of my flaws as well as others. My heart had its highs and lows, I've laughed till I cried and I cried till there was no more tears to shed. Blessed 2013 ya'll! :)
We have this monthly dinner thing with my former officemates-turned-friends. This has been going on for the fourth time now and it’s my turn to pick a place for us to eat. At first, I picked Jack’s Loft at Timog, since I hail from Quezon City. Hee hee hee But I heard a lot of objection from someone who lives in the South, saying that the place is unfamiliar to him and that it’s too far.
Being the compassionate that I am, I concede…I’ve decided to compromise.
Ayala Triangle at night
the busy Ayala Avenue
buildings, buildings, buildings...
Actually, this dinner nearly DOES NOT come into existence. Why? At around 3pm news about the 8.9 earthquake in Japan has reached the Philippines. Aside from the scare that my relatives in Japan might be hurt there were text messages from my mom that Philippines was on tsunami alert. I was planning on calling off the whole dinner thing at 4.30pm…when our dinner was supposedly at 5pm.
But all is well…Thank God! :D
We ended up having dinner at Amici in Ayala Triangle. I must say that Ayala Triangle at night is spectacular. It’s conducive for business meetings (at night?!?), friends night-out, or if you find that perfect little resto, a dinner date.
The place was great…and the company as well! It doesn’t hurt that the food was superb too! :D
Mozzarella Fritto
As appetizer, we ordered Mozzarella Fritto—golden fried mozzarella sticks served with tangy pomodoro sauce. YUM!
Penne Al Salmone Affumicato Pasta
I ordered, Penne Al Salmone Affumicato Pasta (smoked salmon pasta). I must say that for someone who liked fish-meals cooked either grilled or fried, the salmon here was actually great! I never had that “fishy” feeling hahaha
Linguine Al Pesto Genovese Pasta
Posh, on the other hand ordered Linguine Al Pesto Genovese Pasta—basil pesto, potatoes, green beans. It was yummy as well. I’ve had a “traumatic” experience with pesto pasta that’s why I was a bit wary tasting this meal…but it was quite good! :D I like it!
Tentazione
Kee did not want to order a heavy meal as he has another dinner to go to after this one so he just ordered Tentazione—rich belgian chocolate icing on moist, dark chocolate cake. Sinfully delicious! (I wasn’t able to taste this one but it looked appealing)
Pollo Arrostito
Tots ordered Pollo Arrostito—baked rosemary half chicken with veggies. YUH-MEH!!!! I loved the tenderness of the chicken with a hint of rosemary. Such a delightful dish!
Al Quattro Formaggi
And lastly we ordered Al Quattro Formaggi—four cheeses pizza. YOU SHOULD TRY THIS! This pizza is great! We told kee that he should at least try this one…its all worth it! :D
... same sitting arrangement--as usual!
The dinner was filled with funny updates and plans. As Posh would put it, these dinners of ours give us a sense of normalcy in the midst of heavy workloads, pressure from other things life and expectations of people from us. These dinners are simply the best! :D
Indeed Abe (pronounced as ah-beh) is where good, no make it GREAT, friends dine!
from the group that brought us Cafe Adriatico and more...
Last Friday, Che called for a dinner to discuss our upcoming Baguio trip. I, Mai, Millet and Claire expressed our agreement to attend. The schemers, (yes I am calling them schemers), Che and Mai agreed to meet at Abe Trinoma around 7pm. They said that the late comer will shoulder the bill for the night—having in mind that since I’ll be coming from Makati that I’ll surely be late. Ha! Karma backfired on them, coz I got off from work around 4.30 and was already in Trinoma around 5.30 (a good an hour and a half early!). Che arrived next, around 6.30 and told me that Claire suddenly was not feeling well, hence she wouldn’t be able to make it. Mai and Millet came last—more than an hour late. Che and I were already in Abe around 7pm and Mai and Millet arrived around 8pm.
those in attendance
Food at Abe were gooooood!
Che and I ordered the squid tactics as appetizer…and while waiting for Mai and Millet (so that the waiter will not throw us out if the restaurant for occupying a table). Squid tactics was GREAT! I likened it to calamares only lighter…I like the sauce, a bit sweet and spicy—just the right combo! YUM!
yummmy squid tactics!
When Mai and Millet arrived, we let them know that we already ordered Lamb Adobo, Rellenong Mais, Binukadkad na Pla-Pla and for dessert, Choco Fondue with Fried Suman. But the two added a few more dishes—Sisig ng Pangasinan and Pork Sinigang.
Rellenong Mais...i like!
uber tender Lamb Adobo
(i personally call it ADOBONG SOSYAL!)
Binukadkad na Pla-Pla--it sure was sliced opened!
pork sinigang
sisig ng Pangasinan (although i dont really tasted the difference from other sisig that i'v eaten)
taste of Filipino dessert with a twist!
Choco Fondue and Fried Suman--can you spell YUMMM??
We were stuffed! I loved the Rellenong Mais, it looked llike hash brown but more filling! The Lamb Adobo was soooo tender, felt like the meat actually melted when you bite into it! Binukadkad na Pla-Pla was cool, as weel, I liked their presentation of the dish, but not really THAT spectacular—it was good though, if you’re a fish person you’ll probably like it! Their Sisig and Sinigang was alright as well…:D What I found amazing was their fondue. I never had my suman fried before, so that was surely something new! I realized that fried suman and chocolate is a good combination.
the great friends at Abe
The meal was good but the conversation was even better. We were catching up on what’s going on in the lives of everyone. The real purpose of our dinner was forgotten… we were busy laughing our hearts content!
Then we had a bucket of light beer and calamares at Jack’s Loft. Our Baguio Trip discussion took us about (maximum of) 20minutes. The rest are ladies chitchatting.. (again!) I supposed we never run out of conversation…hehehe
my drink at Jack's Loft
calamares, something to munch on while drinking
Then Che had to leave early (around 11pm) coz she has work the next day. Mai, Millet and I went to Giligans for another round of light beers. I ordered cola this time, as I’m afraid my body will start to react anytime soon on the alcohol content (I only had half a bottle for the whole night!).
at Giligans...felt like a teenager while I was there
We again discussed a lot of topics and future travels. I love spending time with these girls. Not only are they intellectually stimulating to talk to, they’re hilarious as well! Never a dull moment! We (Mai, Millet and I) finally called it a night around 3am…hence I was absent on my yoga class scheduled that morning…haaaay oh well, I had fun! :D
Great weekend indeed! Looks like I really ended the month with a blast!
Realization:
whatever else that maybe lacking in my life, my friends more than made up for it! Sure glad I have great company of friends!
Fourteen going on fifteen years of friendships, that's what we have. We started during our junior year in high school and until now that we are career-women (for the most part hehehe) we've manage to nurture our friendship, we've become each other's best of friends—more like soul sisters.
We call ourselves The Black Beauties (BBs, for short). How we came up with that name was already been forgotten. We all have different versions of it. My version is… my earliest recollection when we started to call ourselves as The Black Beauties was when we had an overnight at Lia's place during high school because we did our group term paper at her house. In the morning, while we were having breakfast, Lia and Kim were watching this program black beauty (the story about a black horse) and both of them were in akimbo while muttering (in almost the same intonation and almost at the same time) "black beauty". We all laugh and that’s how it all started. That's the version I have.
Later on we went to different universities but our friendship remained intact.
Distance has never been a problem with us—us having Manila Chapter and US Chapter (for the two changs—yes we call each other changs—who decided to settle abroad). The cyberspace has become a perfect place for us to get an update regarding one another… is started with (now defunct) friendster, then came the multiply site, now facebook, twitter, skype and ym.
Christmas get-together has been sort of a tradition to us. We always allot one weekend for us to meet and greet each other, exchange gifts… especially now that we have little nathan (the fist Black Beauty baby...Christmas is special to us).
For this year, we've decided to meet for lunch on the 2nd of January 2011. Just because that's the only "free" day for ALL of us... we wait in line at Kanin Club at UP Technohub. That was the first time I ate there. At first i thought, "What the heck?!? Why are we waiting in line (i think we were 7th or 8th group in waiting). Why not go to other restaurant? (i must say that good dining place at UP technohub is few!). But Faith swears by the "aligue" rice ( alige= crab fat).
We ordered aligue rice, tinapa rice (smoked fish), crispy dinuguan (pork blood stew), sinigang na baboy, crispy liempo, laing, the rest I have forgotten. (We ordered a lot!hehehe):D
crispyliempo
yummy aligue rice (high blood!!!)
greeny...laing
We are stuffed! the food here is great! no wonder there's a loooooong waiting line outside. worth the trip, worth the wait, worth every penny! :D
group pic with arvin
lovely ladies inthe house! :D
We had our typical exchange gifts at Starbucks but we also bought some pastries at Coffeebean (we have no brand loyalty hehehehe). Talks about our lives—present and future was aplenty!
first official BB married couple
exchange gifts mode
Wish we all get together (COMPLETE) by the end of the year! Until our next get-tog!
