Dinner @ Pancake House with Mama & Sis

When: October 12, 2010

A day before my birthday, generosity reigned in my heart. I finally gave in to my sister's clamor for a new pair of high-heeled footwear (strappy sandals in my book) for a school event. The quick shopping spree made me think - When was the last time I bought a new pair of shoes for a social event? I tried digging deeper into my memory bank but I failed to come up with a definite answer. Anyway, I extended my generosity a bit and was the dinner sponsor that night. Aha! I wore a "G" for generosity, so to speak, for that night. :)

I chose Pancake House that night since it's not packed with diners.

 Mediterranean pasta salad (Php 160) ~ a medley of fusili noodles with olives, tomatoes, walnuts and bacon bits topped with alfalfa sprouts and waffle croutons

Mama chose this pasta salad over the potato salad that she had been eyeing for in the menu.

Chicken fillet with cheesy spinach pesto linguine (Php 195) ~ deep fried chicken breast on spinach pesto linguine sprinkled with parmesan

Pictured above was my top pick among the patio pasta choices. Too bad. It was too bland for my taste. I could have much better pesto at World Chicken for almost half the price.

 

House special set (Php 215) ~  a delicious mix specialties of the house: taco, spaghetti with garlic bread,  pan chicken and iced tea (see below)

Nikki has always been a fastood fare fan, so she ordered the set which contains her two favorites: spaghetti and fried chicken.

 

Drinks: iced tea (from the House Special Set for Nikki), mango juice (me) and hot calamansi for Mama

Blueberry-filled pancakes (Php 147 for two pieces)

Since Pancake House is famous for pancakes (duh), we had some for dessert. Yum. Perfectly fluffy and not too sweet.

Pancake House

Gateway Mall

Shoe Haul: Charles & Keith and Pill Sandals

Apparently, BF is generous. I must have thought out loud one day that I badly need a new pair of sandals. After more than a year of working at the Makati CBD, I find wearing sandals more comfortable than wearing pumps or even ballet flats. With all the walking I do in the CBD due to strict implementation of traffic rules, I like my feet to breath and not enclosed. 

Charles & Keith multi-colored sandals 

This is my first ever pair of Charles & Keith, so please indulge me!

Done in the spirit of foot vanity

I wore it to the office the following day. Two days after, I wished I had another new pair of sandals. I love my Charles & Keith so much that I don't want my lovely pair to be overused. BF heard my wish. So off to The Ramp Glorietta I went. Voila! I found this comfy gray sandals which can be worn with corporate casual clothes.

Pill sandals

A big thanks to BF! Much love, Mommy.

Karate Kid: Enjoying Japanese Fast Food with Super BC + Gaby

Super BC* refers to the awesome pair of husband and wife, Jay & Weng, who are both my good friends. The couple is blessed with a little princess named Gabriela Jelena (my godchild) and manages their own travel agency. Why "Super BC"? Click here if you major, major wanna know! In fact, they were our travel buddies last February in Hongkong and Macau. 

Peace out to HKers!

One Tuesday afternoon, BFF Weng told me that we should meet in Ortigas area to - what else - catch up on each other's lives. After several months of not seeing each other, we finally met in SM Megamall for dinner. Due to lack of material time, we decided to have a filling meal a la fastfood style at Karate Kid.

 

Apart from enjoying dinner, one of the topics that was extensively dicussed during dinner was the hijacked bus with tourists from HK. God bless the OFWs based in HK and all the Filipino tourists who still pick HK among all tourist hubs in Asia. Awful things sometimes happen without warning.

Like father, like daughter

My godchild seems to personify the phrase "bibo kid". She is quite confident in making choices and hates dull moments.

The tale of Gaby and the strawberry jelly mouse

Okay, presenting our tummy fillers that night... 

Beef ramen for Pareng Jay

Gyudon for BFF Weng

Ebi tempura for Pareng Jay

But, of course, tempura goodness will be much, much appreciated with rice.

Japanese burger pasta for yours truly

I heart pasta. I can't imagine my foodie life without pasta. It's that simple yet complicated considering I'm really gaining weight from all the pasta dishes I've gobbled up the past few days. Burp.

Iced royal milk tea for me and BFF Weng... Yey!

Best of all, we all shared hearty laughters from this bio-magnetic bracelet which still elicits amusement from yours truly until now. Oh, but that's another story. For now, while writing this, I am happy that I'm blessed with wonderful and generous friends! Merci beaucoup, BFF Weng! Muchas gracias, Pareng Jay! :)

*BC Travel Services

Unit 302 3/F Integrated Professional Offices Building
Dona Josefa #14 Quezon Ave, Quezon City

4684431 / 09228858498

My New Fave Body Wash

This is now my favorite body wash and yet I feel sad at the same time. Why? I feel sad because it means leaving my first love Johnson's Baby Milk Bath. For almost eight (8) years, JBMB has been my daily bath essential since it's so easy to use and my skin never felt parched even without lotion. However, an aunt from O Canada gave us some pasalubong which includes Dial Moisturizing Body Wash in Soy and Almond Milk variant!

Dial S-K-I-N.

How happy I was the first time I tried it! It left my skin sweetly scented and milky soft. Okay, okay, I might be giddy in superlatives but, what can I do, it's just so true. It exceeded my expectations and I guess it will take a long time to go back to my first love. *dreamy sigh*

"Celine" Finds

I'm not sure exactly what I'm trying to post right now. Maybe it's my way of thanking the boyfriend of his post-holiday generosity or I'm directly amused (I noticed I'm fond of this word lately) of the two "Celine" purchases yesterday. Both reasons are intertwined, so I'll be honest. It's both.

Personally, I put a lot of (possibly undue) pressure on myself to look presentable at the very least in every occasion. It's easy to ask why. I'm the eldest child and people sometimes look at the first born as the yardstick of a family's measure of success. Success is susceptible of many interpretations so let's skip that topic for now, please.

So since I'm going to attend my first cousin's wedding which calls for a semi-formal attire, I have to look for some dress. Truth to tell, I only own a few decent semi-formal dresses. I noticed that wearing a dress requires an enormous amount of (real) pressure to shave my legs and sit so femininely.

Below are the "Celine(s)".

This is the first "Celine". It's a simple denim-like dress designed by Celine Lopez for Plains and Prints. It stuck to my mind because I always read her lifestyle column in The Philippine Star every Sunday. We bought this for only Php 350. Wide grin.

This is the second "Celine". It's really from Celine boutique at Glorietta 5. It's been a long time since I had a red footwear. Something new for 2010.

When I got home, I immediately tried the dress and the sandals. It was pure bliss, so much so that I even took pictures of them.

My 2010 Planner

Getting this wasn't cheap.

I have a new planner! This is pretty much a delayed reaction since I got this planner mid-December last year.

On my way home, I finally decided to put my 2010 Starbucks planner into good use. Since today is the first working day of 2010, it's only proper to start scribbling on this pricey planner. Yes, it's free but it took me and other fellow S'buckers almost two grand bucks  just to bag this!

Hey, people from Rustan's Group of Companies, you should be proud that lots of yuppies and urbanites are willing to burn bucks just to grab your planners. Perhaps, adding a free pen wouldn't hurt.