Italian Goodness @ Amici

When: October 21, 2010

The BF's mother is here in Manila for a two-week vacation and, in fact, she celebrated her 63rd birthday last Thursday. Weeks ago, with this celebration in mind, I kept asking the BF where in the world shall we eat during this special day. As repeatedly pointed out by the BF, his mother doesn't have a big appetite and not a picky eater as well. So the only logical choice would be any food spot where BF and I would mutually enjoy. It should be near BF's office. Location, check. Our mutual favorite. Italian food, check. Name of resto? Aha, Amici it is!

My first Amici experience was at their original location at Don Bosco Makati where I had the green-colored pasta spinach fusili montanara and gelato. Their gelato is quite exceptional so I went out to buy a big tub at their newest branch in Tomas Morato that time just so my siblings would know it. I love sharing good food, you see. :)

 Spaghetti red vongole e gamberetti (Php 260) ~ pasta served with special red sauce and bounties of the sea

Well, seafood pasta is one of the reasons why BF loves Italian food. Except for those kinds with meatballls in it, he respects tomato-based pasta with seafood. He shared this pasta with the birthday girl, er, lady. :)

 Cannelloni agli spinaci (Php 240) ~ a classic favorite! Pasta tubes filled with spinach and ricotta cheese topped with tomato sauce and a layer of creamy cheese

This dish was way too heavy for me. I felt like a genuine glutton after eating.

 

Al quattro formaggi (Php 295) ~ four cheeses

Never underestimate this plain-looking, thin-crust pizza. It was good especially when I sprinkled chili flakes on it. 

 Mango sans rival gelato cake (Php 95) ~ a mango lover's dream! Delightful mango gelato mixed with to-die for sans rival gelato embedded in layers of crunchy meringue wafers

Just to immortalize in pictures (read: photo ops purposes) that it's really BF's mother that day, we asked the server if she can put a candle on the gelato cake. Very cute slice of cake! The taste? Delish!

Smile then burp!

Now, where's the birthday lady? Here she is.

 Happy birthday, Ma'am Tuding!

Notice the similarities? It's a case of photocopied genes. Hahaha! :)

Amici

3/F SM Megamall Atrium

Birthday Lunch: Johnny Rockets + California Berry & More!

When: October 13, 2010

I am now 30 and, believe me, this is puzzling. Details of my puzzlement will be somehow revealed in batches as I go along and document my life in this little nook in the web. Deep down inside, I still feel very young and I sincerely hope that it will show. Wishful thinking or not, I don't know. Hahaha! 

Okay, allow me to ramble about adding another year to my earthling life. Big celebrations are not my thing. Several weeks prior, my folks posed these classic questions: Where are we going to celebrate? Shall we order food from CCME, Luk Foo or Savory? How about your cake? Pre-ordered (referring to Estrel's) or over the counter (Red Ribbon, Goldilocks or Conti's)? Blah-blah.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely appreciate my folks' concern over their firstborn's 30th birthday. Ladies and gentlemen, I just defied the family tradition and said no to those. No cooking necessary either. I'm 30, get over it. It's just one day and it will certainly pass. Call it madness or non-conformist behavior but I happened to love my no-frills birthday!

 

At the Johnny Rockets entrance: Me, holding my Johnny Rockets take-out and a pink balloon (huge thanks to BF who dared to ask if he can get a balloon from the grand opening day leftovers) beside a life-size cardboard illustration of a woman in WWII armed services uniform. If this doesn't spell happy, then I don't know what is! 

It will be a normal day, I promised myself. I pretty much evolved from not knowing much about birthday plans to enthusiastically reveling in little surprises. So I had a normal breakfast, normal shower, normal reading pace, normal playlist and then BF showed up. As promised, he appeared normal - meaning, no flowers and gifts mysteriously hidden somewhere. He then asked me where I'd like to have lunch and I instantly told him - Banapple at Il Terrazzo. So we trooped to Banapple but it was packed with yuppies. A few minutes later, we found ourselves entering Johnny Rockets. Whoa! Burger and fries on my special day, why not?

 

The concept is a diner-style resto circa 1950s. Very interesting!

Jukebox station in every table

Making a smiley face with ketchup on the paper plate when served french fries is a Johnny Rockets trademark. (Wikipedia)

The waitstaff assigned to us was very friendly and accommodating. Songs reminiscent of the swinging 1960s or Sunday classics blasted through the speakers. Then, all of a sudden, the staff began gyrating happily to the tune of  Build Me Up Buttercup. What a pleasant dining experience it was!

The diners, BF and I included, were very much entertained with the dance number. Then the food.

# 12 (Php 335) ~ cheddar cheese, fresh lettuce, onion slice, pickle, mayonnaise & our tangy "red sauce." On a scale of one to ten, it's a twelve!

I thought it was too pricey and the only comforting fact I learned was that the burger actually included fries-all-you can. Never mind the fact that I avoid deep-fried stuff nowadays.

The birthday girl's order: sliders (Php 265) ~ mini-sliders with mayonnaise and pickles/ dijonnaise. Perfect for sharing.

I underestimated the capability of these little burgers to fill me up. They were in fact very juicy and heavy on the tummy. I even took the third dwarf burger home with me.

Drinks: bottomless lemonade (Php 110) and Coke in can (Php 85)

Well, dining at Johnny Rockets is definitely not for cheapskates like me. Hahaha! I've learned my lesson, thank you. While on our second plate of fries, the staff performed another dance number to the tune of Y.M.C.A.

Vintage shots

Can we take them home please?

Since I'm all for healthy dessert, then off to California Berry we went. We sampled their newest flavor - green apple - and it was okay, nothing fantastic.

Green apple fro-yo (Php 90, medium cup)

When I went home, I found the whole birthday spread lovingly carried by Lazy Susan. Oh wait, did I just say that I wanted no pre-ordered food? Oh well. Hahaha!

CCME's beef caldereta and lumpiang shanghai, Amber's spaghetti and pichi-pichi and ice-cold Coke

Did I just turn 30? :)

Johnny Rockets

205 Tomas Morato Street

Quezon City

California Berry

Kopiroti Building

186 Tomas Morato

Quezon City

July 14: Nikki's Birthday

Last July 14, my one and only sister turned 18! Although she's no longer a minor, she's still our one and only baby in the family. All eyes are upon her when she comes of age. Days before her special day, she told our folks that it won't be a special day if all her favorites aren't there. So, what are her faves? Pizza, spaghetti and Jollibee Chickenjoy! 

 

The baby is now a lady.

 

Cakes for the girl

I brought Boston Chocolate Cake from BreadTalk, while our sis-in-law Sheryl brought Goldilock's Rocky Road. Since I'm much enamored with food lately, I visited Goldilock's site for a detailed info about the cake. Here it is: Rocky Road is a three layered chocolate sponge cake filled in between with chocolate frosting, marshmallow and chocolate chips. The whole cake is iced with chocolate frosting and finished with a ripple like design on the side. The surface and bottom side is bordered with vanilla butter icing that is drizzled with chocolate frosting.  Now, I'm craving for it. Gosh. I had no high expectations of Boston Chocolate Cake (Php 545) from BreadTalk considering the price. We all know that BreadTalk sells bread at higher prices, so for a chocolate cake worth Php 545, my expectations are low. My other siblings, however, liked it due to its Nutella-ish flavor.

 

The whole spread with the birthday girl's faves

Aside from Nikki's faves, our dear Mama ordered pork siomai (my nephew Dave's fave), fresh lumpia and beef caldereta from CCME Homemade Foodstuff. Due to their hectic work skeds, my folks rarely have time to cook for special occasions. Papa, however, made time to cook spaghetti for the debutante.

 

 Just perfect: Yellow Cab's vegetarian pizza and SML

Ivan & Jobo wanted

Spread the happiness!

Happy, happy birthday, Nikki!

May 13: Mama's Birthday

I've rambled about Ruby a.k.a. bida/kontrabida in this entry. It's almost a mandatory judicial notice that my mother plays a significant role in my life. So, it's just high time to repeat about her awesomeness since it's her birthday anyway. Besides, it's not every day that I get to pay tribute to the woman from whom I inherited half of my genes.

I wasn't able to attend her golden day celebration last year due to my training in C'ville. And, in order to lessen my guilty feelings about it and to show how precious the golden girl is (zzzzz... drools), I bought her a black leather Coach bag ($185 plus tax) at the Prime Outlets in Williamsburg, VA. Well, that's for last year, but this year's different. I bought her a Cookies and Cream cake instead since it's purportedly one of her favorites. Way, way cheaper compared to my last year's tribute, yes!

Happy 51st Birthday, Ma!

These photos would show how happy the birthday celebrant was during her day. Add some bunch of flowers from my BF, two more sweet treats (chocolate mousse & crema de fruta) from office peeps, and smiles from moi and Dave, methinks Ruby is happy! Siblings missing in the picture were still either in school, work or trying to make their lives count.

My heartfelt wishes this time: good health and happiness ... and the building of that dream house in Bohol soon!

May 12: The BF's Birthday

Notwithstanding his childlike personality, the BF is now a tricenarian! He turned 30 last May 12, just one day ahead of my mother's birthday. Okay, I have to admit that Librans like moi seemed to establish a good rapport with Taureans, save for some periods where the lunar effect comes into play (kidding).

The perennial favorite: Estrel's caramel cake

One awesome thing about Estrel's* is that it never fails to disappoint us and the first timers. Never mind the teeny-weeny hassle of picking it up yourself in the mazelike intersection near Timog area in Quezon City because it's all worth it. Mind you, it took me one and half hours of travel from Timog to Pasig City where BF's office is. Oh yeah, blame the infamous Friday traffic jam.

Thanks to the ever reliable CCME Homemade Foodstuff delivery service for the lunch consisting of beef caldereta, pork barbecue, lemon chicken, chopsuey and pancit bam-i (for longevity, whatevs). The Honorable Judge RDQ was very nice to give way to beer and videoke sessions in the afternoon. It was definitely a happy burp-day!

My only wish to the BF - may all your wishes come true!

*Estrel's Caramel Cakes
54 Scout Tobias corner Scout Limbaga Streets, Quezon City
Phone Numbers: 372-2965 and 371-7938

Rafael Dave's 9th Birthday

Who would have thought that the little boy who brought instant joy to our family a few months ago just turned nine? Does this mean I'm already borderline in the birthing of a bundle of joy vis-a-vis mandatory age for prepping up a bun in the human oven? Beats me. All I know is, the little boy sprung from my brother Ivan who is two years younger (whew) than I am. And the little boy is fondly called "batang attorney" by my folks due to his opinionated character.

  

A late call to Estrel's Caramel Cake proved to be a blessing. They were fully booked and I have to find a child-friendly cake under time pressure. Two hours away from the birthday lunch made me decide to enter Red Ribbon. Tiramisu Meltdown didn't disappoint us. It was too good and the kid loved it to the last smudge of icing.

 

Photo courtesy: BF. Gracias!

 

Gracias to Ang Tunay na Pansit Malabon (Timog branch) and CCME Homemade Stuff (Dr. Lazcano corner Tomas Morato Streets). And thanks to our ref in which our favorite fruit salad sought shelter.

 

Happy, happy birthday to our future pilot!

All About October 13

I got this interesting information about my birthday from a random book in Booksale. The title of the book escaped me though.

Color: Turquoise

Number: 4, 13, 22

Stone: Turquoise - a stone sacred to Native Americans, used for protection

Flora: Pussy Willow

Animal: Iguana

Occupation: Company founder, politician, bouncer

Key features: Fierce, tenacious, powerful, naturally good at taking the upper hand when others show weakness

Character: You can be likened to polished steel, shiny, hard, and never rusty! You have a strength and power that are awesome and a little dangerous, but if you are one of the very few who are not in touch with their power you may feel totally victimized. You don't mess around, and with sheer gall and grit always rise to the top of the heap.

Life: You can be too single-minded and focused. When you are set on some goal or battle you forget about not only your own emotional well-being of those around you. You can transcend this and discover the way of the peaceful warrior if you try. Open your heart to gentleness.

Love: You crave security but once you have it, you tend to take your partner for granted or see them merely as extension of yourself. When you are in a casual relationship or chasing someone, you are much more loving and giving. An Aquarius, whose ruling planet, Uranus, is also your birth date ruler, would be very good for you.

Best present: Bubble-making machine, rose-quartz heart pendant.

Birthday share: 1925 Lenny Bruce, comedian, and Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of Britain; 1941 Paul Simon, singer; 1959 Marie Osmond, singer.

On this day: In 1992, the pyramids, the Sphinx, and other monuments survived an earthquake in Cairo that killed at least 400 people and injured more than 4,000.

January 9: Double Up!

January 9 is the ninth day of the year in the Gregorian calendar.  Also, as far as the Pinoy Catholics are concerned, the Feast of the Black Nazarene takes place every year on January 9. But for our family's 2010 calendar, it's a double celebration.

Welcome to the wacky Christian world! 

First, my eight-year-old nephew Dave was baptized at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Scout Ybardolaza. I stood as the principal ninang (godmother), the boyfriend as the principal ninong (godfather) and my two brothers as godfathers too. 

Dave had a little pep talk with the priest before the baptism rites. The boyfriend and I were amused with the foreign priest who speaks Tagalog so fluently. See below.

Father & child

In his homily, Father said that the baptism was very timely because tomorrow (January 10) is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.*

This should've been a solemn moment but, look, I just couldn't hide my amusement. Joint forces... Hahaha!

The Godfather Trilogy + Daddy + Auntie Ninang

Second, today is my beloved Papa's 56th birthday. As always, I wish Papa good health and more blessings. 

My "donation" to the salo-salo: Yummy Estrel's caramel cake

Happy burp-day indeed!

  

I hurriedly took this pic, hence blurred.

We've grown up with... the wisdom of your words, the cheerfulness of your laughter, the strength of your mind & the warmth of your love.Thank you for all that you've been. You've inspired the best in us. 

HA-HA-HAPPY 56th BIRTHDAY, PAPA! Good health as always!

*The Baptism of the Lord (or the Baptism of Christ) is the feast day commemorating the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist.