Courtroom Musings

Spent this morning in Makati City Hall at one of the branches of the Regional Trial Court.  It was my first time to see the courtrooms in Makati, and I was quite pleased to see that the place was well appointed and was miles ahead of the comparative ones in the Manila and the rest of the metro.  This is what a court house should look like!  Here's hoping that the justice system gets an overhaul pretty soon...

Hi-Street on Easter Sunday

Dog owners, unite!  Spent time in High Street at Fort Bonifacio Global City with the kids to have a relaxing Easter Sunday afternoon, and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed watching so many beautiful dogs around the park.  This place is animal-friendly, and dog owners have given the strip mall a high mark of confidence!  Breeds that we saw?  Name it, it was there, well-represented in the festive crowd--from Shih-Tzus, Lhasas, to mini-pins, dachshunds, poodles, hounds & labs...!  Go check it out on a weekend!

Easter Sunday Lunch

Happy Easter!  Vicky brought out a special Farmland Hickory-smoked spiral sliced ham for Easter lunch today, and you bet, it was very tender and juicy.  This, together with her pesto spaghetti and sea-bass (cooked two-ways, teriyaki and garlic fried), completed the wonderful Easter lunch menu for the the family.  Together with my sister-in-law Becca and her hubby Miggs, we sat like contented cows having a round of french-pressed coffee at the patio... No more room for dessert!

Connecticut Visit

Had Black Saturday lunch with Khong & Gwammy at Lugang Cafe over at Connecticut St. in Greenhills.  The place promotes a variety of Chinese cuisines--Taiwanese fare, Cantonese staples, Shanghai specialties and a few Szechuan items too.  The restaurant was supposed have been introduced as a Bellagio franchise, but, as the story goes, the owners decided to go with the Lugang Cafe brand because the Bellagio name had already been registered locally.  With nice modern interiors and a bright, spacious atmosphere, it's easy to warm up to the restaurant.  The Shao Long Pao was juicy and tasty, the Hainanese Chicken was soft and flavorful, a real treat!  The Szechuan peanut soup with noodles was an interesting find, and together with the meatball with salted egg, I could barely make room for my dessert of peanut flavored crushed ice!  Expect to spend some P400 to P800 per head.

After the heavy Chinese lunch, we moved next door to Angel's Kitchen for brewed coffee and another round of dessert (apple pie with a hint of cinnamon on the crust).  This cozy restaurant has a wide range of home-cooked fare, and was the perfect resting place for the lazy afternoon chit-chat we envisioned.  Mi Casa, the Kitchen's deli shop, also had a lot of goodies which kept Gwammy so entertained.  After an hour passed, Annella, Tony & the kids popped in and joined us, making the afternoon a memorable one indeed!

Sango Burger

I fetched my daughter Monique and her cousins at the Shangri-la Mall the other day; we had a late lunch at Sango Burgers at the 6th floor.  This is a Japanese burger chain and their specialty is a rice-burger (yup, you heard it right) which has rice roll substituting as bread, and with beef teriyaki as the filling!  Delicious!  It was a new experience too, having Japanese mayo, finely chopped onions and seaweed laver lavishly sprucing up burgers.  Note that their curry burger also tasted good.  My only comment was that the serving size was "bitin" but you would expect that from a heavy eater like me... hehehe... Well, expect to spend some P200 per head... Enjoy!

Aling Linda's Pancit Malabon

Now here's a fabulous treat that my wife Vicky got for her sister's Patty's birthday a few days ago--one giant bilao of Aling Linda's Pancit Malabon!  Firm noodles, tasty sauce, topped with shrimps, pork, baguio pechay and hard-boiled eggs, this delicacy makes a one-in-a-million extravaganza!  It's delicious sauce blends in that salty-calamansi flavor so the traditional additions of toyo-patis-calamansi are no longer necessary.  Aling Linda's family comes from Malabon, but since she now operates shop in Lavander St., in SSS Village, Marikina, the pancit has also been lovingly referred to as Pancit Marikina!  One bilao that can make a hungry hoard of 30 people smile comes to only P900, which makes every single centavo absolutely worth it!

Maundy Thursday Drive Time

My nephew Luis just recently got his student driver's permit and being the season of Lent, Manila traffic thins out--perfect time to roam around!  We took this opportunity to cris-cross the metropolis practicing his M/T skills and honing his A/T driving skills.  He's actually doing great, with as little as two weeks study, he's already moving around the city at 60 kph!  Not bad at all...


Had lunch at RSD with my brother-in-law Tony's famous Kiampung (that's actually Chinese Paella), which was gooey in texture, smooth to the palate, smelled yummy and had lots of vegetables and flavorful peanuts.  Great tasting!


While we were merrily going about town, my sisters Michaela & Annella have been sorting up the study to clear up space for Dad's daytime bed...  Whew!  Tough job!  That place is full of dusty old stuff!  Good luck, sisters....