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! :)
I have this "kilig" feeling for days now and I cant pin point the source. Whats up with that? To those non-filipinos out there... I shall try to define what kilig is. (Note: emphasis on the word TRY! hee hee)
kilig (noun): Its the little tremble or shudder (usually positive) and usually in reference to something one like. the feeling when one is infatuated : some connotes this a "butterflies in the stomach" but not quite so : others defined it as "titillate" but with less sexual undertone : twitterpatted : giddy-feeling On other news, my officemate gave us these... Aint she sweet?!?
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
After filling our tummies at Yakimix (until we had hard time breathing from extreme fullness), the gang—Sir Tots, Posh, Jo and I (yes, 4 can still be considered as a gang)—went to our next pit-stop for the night, WAKO KTV.
They decided (as I have no idea that videoke was part of the night's agenda, and they assumed that the "strike-anywhere" in me will just tag along—and they were correct!) that videoke will be mainly for Jo's practice since she's a contestant (representing our team) for our office's IDOL, a singing competition. It's already second elimination round (I think!) so she has to ready herself and prepare her repertoire. I was told that for this round, they are to choose from old ballad songs. For me, (biased that I am) Jo no longer needed the practice coz FOR SURE she got the prize in the bag, her talent more than surpassed her competitors! :P
Anyhow, just for the formality of "practice" (Jo's competitors might say that she's being overly confident) we had a videoke/karaoke night hehehe (yabang!) I repeat, this is just for formality's sake!
the TV
the remote
who first grabbed the mic?? Jo, Posh, Sir Tots or me? any guess??
I haven't been to WAKO before, and for me, at 85Php per head AND per hour, the place is okay. Most of the songs in their lists are pretty old English songs (probably 80s or 70s), a few Tagalog songs and a LOT of Chinese and Korean songs (which we have no idea how to sing or read from the list for that matter!)
the song book
BUT despite having a hard time breathing (because our stomachs haven't digested all the food we ate at Yakimix) and the limited song choice, we still brought out the inner diva in us and belted our hearts out.
sooo many choices to choose from! (can you hear my sarcasm?)
NOTE: I will no longer reveal the song choices of each and everyone because some of the songs sang were incriminating and have a great impact on our reputation. Let's just say, what was sung in WAKO, stayed in WAKO. Hehehe
Last Friday after work, my friends and I went to Greenbelt 3 and dined at Yakimix. They have this buffet meal wherein you can eat anything and everything you want for only 580Php. But like all good things, there's a catch! This one has conditions attached to it. First, NO LEFT OVER! Second, NO TAKE HOME! And third, it doesn’t mean that if you're young, cute and cuddly, you can use that to your advantage...no, CHILDREN BELOW 4 YEARS OF AGE (well their parents that is!) still has to shell out some dough, at a discounted price, but dough nonetheless!
Hmmm, where do I begin?
At first I really had no idea what Yakimix was! All along I thought we were going to eat at Dad's for merienda but a sudden shift in the wind made my friends change their minds and now its Yakimix. Prior to Friday, Posh and Jo showed me a blog site about Yakimix and I immediately got turned off. Yep, that I did! The pictures in the blog were amazing, by the way…but all I saw were Japanese food! (one thing you should know about me is that aside from being a picky eater, I’m allergic to a lot of things as well...so that narrows down my food choices next to nothing!) Its not that I hate Japanese food, I just don’t like eating "RAW" food which I believe most Japanese restaurants cater to their clientele. But in my defense (defensive pala! hehehe), I LOOOOOVE Katsudon (that’s a Japanese food right?!? :D)
But I digress....back to Yakimix, I was starting to dread the idea of doing to Yakimix until I saw in the blog the pics of their desserts. I immediately confirm my attendance! Yep friends, I'm in! I'm good...even just with the desserts! I can live with just desserts!
the ambiance
Then friday came and we went to Yakimix. :) As we entered, the place isnt packed yet. Probably because it was around 7ish when we arrived there (excited much?!?). We got a good seat—not too far from the buffet tables but not too near either!
How ironic that the first table we went to is the Japanese food corner. If your were next to me that time, you'll probably hear me muttering "X", "X", "X", "X".... while I was choosing what food to get. At the end, I finally decided that, THAT table is not for me.
So on to the next...I saw the dessert table and I thought my heart dropped! The array of desserts was simply divine! It was heavenly!!! I just restrained myself from attacking the dessert table as I have not had any "real" food yet... Again, off to the next table (while trying to not longingly look back at the dessert table, that time will come later on...)
I got to the table wherein the smokeless grill will be used. I refrained myself from getting some shrimps (coz I'm allergic) and salmon (coz I just dont like salmon)... I tried asking if they have tuna (coz that is my favorite—I could eat grilled or fried tuna ALL DAY, FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!) but to my dismay, there was none.
"Yakimix, why is there salmon but no tuna??? Sooo unfair!" *sigh*
I guess, I just have to be contended with the beef, the pork and the chicken...oh and some processed food as well!
my first plate
I went for the interesting stuffs, which I believe will not go into waste—meaning no left over! hehehe I tried to get one of each. My decision is based on the following criteria: whether or not I can eat it, whether or not I can bravely swallow it (just in case the taste doesn’t suit my palate) and whether or not I’m allergic to it!
I was just happy grilling. There's something exciting about seeing your food "cooked" by you and before your eyes plus without tons of smoke to block your vision! Super nice! When it comes to my meat and other things (I mean food) on stick, I'm a well-done kinda girl, so it took awhile before all the stuffs I got, cooked! But in the end, I got it all done the way I want ‘em!
Oh, the waiter cleaned the grill even before we left the table and so we were able to see what it looked like inside! Weird stones. Ewww grease!
Jo's first plate....
blue lemonade?!?
Of course, we need something to quench our thirst! Thanks to sir tots for this pleasing to the eye, lemonade—although a little sweet for my taste!
YUM-OH!
As for my second plate, I went for the traditional Pinoy meal... friend rice, chicken lollipop, crispy pata, fried tofu with sweet sauce and fried vegetables. Yum! This one I enjoyed eating for the simple reason that it taste like I’m at home sharing a meal with my family…
I was saving the best for last! I made sure that I have room --LOTS OF ROOM-- for desserts! For me, desserts are the culmination of every meal...
who will say no to blueberry cheesecake, right?!?
ahhh leche flan, a staple dessert in my household!
chocolate cake
caramel bar and egg tart
…however, I must say that I got uber disappointed with these particular sweets that I got. Most of them, especially the blueberry cheesecake and the leche flan were bland and tasteless. The sponge part of the chocolate cake was dry and the only thing that I liked about it was the chocolate on its side. The egg tart tasted...well, like eggs! (and I’m not fond of eggs!) But, this isn't all about me ranting... I found a little piece of happiness in their dessert too! I found their caramel bar and I loved it! Yummmmy! Tasted like Max’s caramel bar! :D
This isn’t me making this blog an avenue for complains... its just that I expected too much from the dessert part since that was the food I was most eager to try! But I had fun too! Look below for the evidence of an empty plate that filled my stomach!
*burp!* --no leftover!-- *grin*
got tired from eating all those desserts???
good food must be shared and enjoyed with great friends!
Too bad I only had three plates....Plus I wasn't able to try the other cakes, the ice creams and the salads... tsk tsk tsk maybe next time?!?
