Dinner at Antonio's

Hours after our plane landed in Manila (from our Vietnam-Cambodia trip), on January 27th, 2009, Ariel and I found ourselves driving to Tagaytay for a romantic dinner at Antonio's. I called ahead to reserve a table and by 7 pm, we drove into the driveway. It was the middle of the week so very few tables are occupied.

We were led to a garden table by the pond filled with large colorful kois. An oil lamp provided a soft glow on our table while we were serenaded by the cool Tagaytay breeze and the pond's cascading waters.

We took our time studying the menu. Meanwhile, we were served with ice cold fresh dalandan juice.

Aside from the house salad which was included in the dinner set, we added a serving of foie gras split into two plates. Yummy!!!

I also ordered the soup of the day which was rich and creamy.

I opted for the seafood sampler which consisted of grilled prawns with spicy creole on pappardelle (whatever that is!), Norwegian salmon poached in olives and pan-seared scallops on celleriac mashed truffle cream sauce. Whew!

Ariel chose the Antonio's Sampler which consists of beef fillet on plancha with black pepper sauce, roast smoked Chilean sea bass on tomato, garlic lemon sauce, and honeyglazed lambloin gratinated with goat cheese. Yum!

For dessert, Ariel picked the flourless chocolate cake...

...while I took my usual panna cotta.

I am so happy that Ariel enjoyed his birthday dinner.

We capped the night with steaming hot cup of brewed coffee. Happiness!

This is the entrance into the dining area.

The chandeliers in the main dining room (we were seated by the garden).

I don't know why it took us so long to try Antonio's when I've been hearing a lot of good reviews over the past couple of years. Anyway, I'm glad we finally took the plunge and tried it, on Ariel's birthday eve no less. We had a fantastic time. Excellent food. Perfect ambiance. Great company. This is life!

Vietnam-Cambodia Trip: A Downpayment

I am still putting together the complete account of our trip. I also haven't finished sorting through hundreds of photos. But it will be worth the wait. :D I'll share details, highlights, recommendations on where to go and what to do, plus tipid tips for the budget traveller. Soon!

Meanwhile, check out some photos here.

Happy viewing!

Happy Lovin' Everyone!

We don't really celebrate Valentine's day. Each day of the week has been created by the God of Love so why should February 14 be any different?

So, tomorrow, instead of a romantic dinner for two, Ariel and I will take a road trip to Pampanga with colleague and good friend Karen, her hubby Ian, and daughter Yana. We will have a sumptuous lunch at C Italian Dining (dinner's already fully booked!), do a bit of shopping, check in at Holiday Inn Mimosa, dinner at Zapata's (hopefully!) and enjoy the Hot Air Balloon Festival.

Anything special planned tomorrow? Sure. We will cuddle in bed in the morning, a few minutes before getting up. We will greet each other "good morning" with a kiss. We will exchange wedding rings with a kiss. We will hold hands and give each other lots of hugs. We will exchange "I Love You" text messages. Ariel will tuck me to bed. We will kiss each other "good night". Plus many other small "love rituals" we've been doing every day we are together since the day we got married. And on days we are apart, we still keep the love alive with the help of technology.

So go tell your spouse you love him/her tomorrow. And every single day after.

Weekend at Abe's Farm/Nurture Spa in Pampanga

Last January 2, Ariel and I, together with some New Zealand-based friends drove to Pampanga for a relaxing weekend at Abe's Farm and Nurture Spa.

Gemma, Amie and Alfred flew home for the holidays. We picked them up at The Block in SM CIty North EDSA at around 9am and we drove to Pampanga (Angeles City exit) to have lunch at Abe's Farm. We met Grace and her mom, as well as Gay, Jun and their daughter Dani at one of the gas stations in NLEX. We then proceeded to Abe's farm where we had a table waiting reserved for a group of 11 adults (including driver and yaya).

Abe's Farm offers the same food selection as Abe's in Serendra and Bistro Remedios in Malate. We had a sumptuous meal! I took lots of photos but due to an error while transferring photos from my camera to the laptop, most of the photos were gone, except for a few survivors:

This is the gate that separates Abe's Farm and Nurture Spa. The Spa offers the same services as that in Tagaytay. Ariel and I had a 30-minute head and shoulder massage at the garden while the rest of the gang went around for some photos.

I couldn't resist taking this shot! Good thing Ariel was in the mood for some goofy shots.

The garden in the compound was well maintained. It is not as colorful as the spa in Tagaytay but the garden is just as lush, albeit with more greens than blooms.
Note to self: wear colorful outfits when out for some serious photo ops. It will make you stand out amid the lush green gardens or grey architecture.

The entrance to the main dining area where a feast of Pampanga's culinary delights awaited us.

Still can't get over my "lost" photos. The batch included our New Year shots (photo and video!) as well us our dinner at Bawai's. Sad.

We Travel Well

Have tons to blog about. We've had a number of food and travel adventures and misadventures since Q4 last year. I've accumulated lots of photos but never got around to posting them. Will do that really soon! But before that...

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Lifted this from Diane's blog:

1. What part of the world and country do you live in?

On weekdays, I sleep to the symphony of beeping cars and grinding cement trucks in Mandaluyong City. On weekends, I wake up to the concerto of chirping birds in Cavite. Both are in the Philippines.

2. What is the furthest from home that you have been, and where is it?

Hmmm...got to brush up on my geography. Asia mainly. I think Phuket, Thailand.

3. What travel destination have you enjoyed the most?

Wow, this is tough. Each destination has its own appeal. Locally, it would be Batanes. Outside of the Philippines, that would be Siem Reap, Cambodia.

4. What travel destination have you enjoyed the least?

Penang, Malaysia - only because I never had the chance to really explore the place.

5. Is there somewhere you’d like to visit but have not, and where is it?

I'd really like to go on an African Safari. Someday.

6. Do you prefer traveling to see historic places or to hit the beach and relax?

I'm generally a nature lover so I prefer the beach over historic places. However, beautiful historical sites like the Angkor region in Cambodia also appeal to me.

7. What popular vacation destination have you never considered because you think you’d not like it?

Hongkong is quite popular to Filipinos because of its proximity and accessibility. However, theme parks and shopping are not exactly my cup of tea so I've never ventured to Hongkong. But I might just try it one of these days.

8. Where do you travel to most recently?

Siem Reap, Cambodia and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

9. Do you like day trip “mini-vacations”?

Not as much as week-long vacations. I enjoy taking my time to discover and experience the places I visit. A day trip just doesn't cut it.

Happy New Year from Saigon!

Today is New Year's eve and Ho Chi Minh is decorated in colorful flowers, lights, balloons and lots of people line the streets. Ariel and I finished our tour for the day and are now resting for a few hours. We will walk towards Saigon River at around 10pm to join the Tet festivities until midnight. There will be fireworks by the river.

It's a great time to be here as the atmosphere is very festive. The downside is that all shops are closed so we were not able to buy any souvenirs.Some shops will be closed until the 28th!

Tomorrow, Ariel and I will just relax and walk around the area. Our hotel is just across Notre Dame Cathedral and the Post Office. I want to take photos at sunrise. However, it's probably an activity I will be doing on my own as Ariel doesn't want to wake up early after several days of waking up before sunrise in Siem Reap. Tomorrow will be the first morning he will be waking up late since we left Manila! I'm just a bit wary here. It feels a lot safer to go around in Siem Reap than here in HCM (we've been ripped off by cab drivers 2x already so we decided to just walk to whereever from this point on!). I'll see tomorrow. It's just across our hotel and very much visible from our hotel room.

While Ariel and I have been enjoying our vacation, I can't wait to get back home! I'm so looking forward to sleeping on my own bed on Tuesday!!! Plus I have a surprise waiting for Ariel when we get back. So excited!

Oh, I need to have my ankle checked back in Manila. It's still a bit sore.

Hello from Siem Reap!

We've had the most amazing 2 days in Siem Reap so far. Ariel and I just go tback from exploring he country side in an All-Terrain Vehicle and it was awesome. We visited a local orphanage and caught the kids in class (they have English, Chinese and Japanese language classes) and then later at recess. We had a great time interacting with them despite the fact that they are not yet very good in English. I asked one kid "how old are you?" and he said "I'm fine thank you. And you?" Of course I said "Im fine, too!" It took us more than three hours to traverse thorugh almost 50kms of dirt road. Needless to say, every inch of my body, clothing, bag, is thick with red dust. Such a small price to pay for an awesome experience. Ariel had a wonderful time and I could see how much he relished driving the ATV. Will give more details when I blog about our trip.

I thank God that all things worked out. We had a few minor misadventures but everything fell into place.

I twisted my ankle yesterday when I stepped in gap on the floor and fell right in front of a statue of Buddha. One good thing about it is that no one else was around when it happened - just Ariel and our guide so di naman masyadong nakakahiya. I took Advil right after and managed to complete our tour with minor inconvenience (and still managed to climb the most challenging temples!). By evening, my ankle was swollen but a few minutes of painful massage might have helped as I woke up today without the swelling. My thigh muscles were aching though, from all the climbing (well, crawling up is more like it!) the previous day. Oh, and I just confirmed, I have a fear of heights. Well, maybe not exactly. It's just that I have no problem climbing up the temples no matter how steep and tall they are. I get tired, sure. But I still manage to go up. Now, going down is a different matter altogether. I'd stnd there on the edge and freeze!!! Ariel and our guide Sophal would take my hand and help me take the first step or two and then I'll make it on my own. I was just so terrified! So why still climb? I don't know. Maybe it's my pride, or my competitive nature. I just can't go back home and say that I didn't go up the temples. :D

More details when we get home! Just took a bit of internet time to check our itinerary when we get back to Ho Chi Minh on Saturday.

Ok, I badly need a long shower and some heavy scrubbing. Oh, and I can't wait for dinner. Khmer food is simple mouthwatering!

Meet Cain

Our family of four humans (Ariel, myself and two helpers) and three furry friends welcomed our newest baby yesterday.

Meet CAIN. He's a two and a half month old cream teacup poodle and he's just the most adorable puppy ever. Look at those puppy eyes. He's only 7 inches tall and about 9 inches long.


I was a bit worried about how he would adjust to his new environment. When I took him home yesterday, he slept throughout the drive home. When we got home, he started playing with everyone! So cute! I specially love it when he wags his inch-long tail. After playing for a bit, we gave him dinner - two tablespoons of dog food mixed with a bit of milk. He finished his food quickly and pooped on a sheet of old newspaper. Yup, he's potty trained!

Can't wait to buy him clothes and accessories! But he's gorgeous just the way he is. Look at him! Welcome home Cain!

People ask me why we named hi Cain. No reason in particular. I would have named him Mr. Big after Chris Noth's character in Sex and the City but he looked more like a Cain to me so Cain it is!

Stories in Hand

I wanted to enroll in the 5-week Friday night classes at Powerbooks called The Five Stories You Want To Write. It's a writing class which I thought would improve my writing skills. But my main objective is really how to capture the relevant stories of my life that I can put into my scrapbook pages. Unfortunately, the schedule doesn't work for me. Three out of the 5 Fridays are already booked in my personal calendar (it starts Nov. 14 and every Friday til Dec. 12).

Fortunately, I signed up for Jessica Sprague's online class called Stories in Hand. It started yesterday so today is Day 2. The class is about the process of capturing the stories that matter. As a scrapbooker, I thought this is highly relevant because I want my scrapbooks to tell stories of how I lived my life. I don't want my scrapbooks to be just about pretty "artistic" pages but I want them to remind me of the good times and the bad, of the experiences that make life sweet, of the blessings I need to be thankful for, of the lessons learned, etc.

The good thing about this class is that I can do it on my own pace. I can access the site any time I want and print the materials on my own convenient time. Yesterday, Jessica shared some printable digital elements to be used for our "scrapbook". Today, she gave us what she calls "sparks" - questions about our ancestry, childhood, routines, etc. - that would, well, spark stories that can be captured in our scrapbook pages. I haven't had a chance to read through the very long list (there are three categories - Roots, Self, Family) but browsing through some of them already brought back memories. I am very excited and I am hoping to interview my parents to know more about my ancestry.

I think I am already doing a good job capturing our travel stories but I need to capture the everyday moments too. So hopefully, this class will help me do just that.

I will share what I can as the class progresses (it runs til Nov. 23!). Right now, I need to go to bed and rest. I still have low-grade fever (4 days already!), a terrible cold, and now, I have cough too! I'm already taking antibiotics so hopefully, the fever will subside soon.

Dinner at Firelake Grill

For our 112th monthsary, we decided to drive to Tagaytay and have dinner at Firelake Grill. We went on Aug. 17th, a day before our actual monthsary, because it falls on a Sunday. The first time we went there about a year ago, it was closed so we ended up eating at the Italian restaurant across Firelake. So this time, I decided to call first and reserve a table for two.

We got there a full hour before our reservation and they just opened. We decided to go for it even if it was still very early.




We started with Iced Tea and dinner rolls. Ariel then ordered a glass of red wine to go with our dinner.

The Smoked Salmon and Caviar salad was very tasty. The serving was just enough to whet our appetite for the main dish.

We ordered Rib-Eye steak with prawns. Well, it's supposed to have just one piece of prawn but since we are splitting this, we asked for an extra piece so Ariel and I can have one each.

I love risotto and every time it is offered in the menu, I just couldn't resist. So we also ordered the asparagus and mushroom risotto. The serving was quite large specially since we had another heavy dish in the steak. I wanted to leave room for dessert so we weren't able to finish the risotto, but it was really good, too.

For dessert, we went to Bag Of Beans. We ordered the Blueberry Cheesecake and I think the other one was Pannacotta.


I had coffee of course - cafe latte to go with my dessert.


Thanks for looking!

Birthday Bash - Part 2

My birthday was actually almost two months ago but it took me a bit of time resizing the photos so well, I'm just posting this now.

Anyway, my hubby gifted me with an external flash for my Canon 40D DSLR. Knowing him though, I know he has a few more surprises up his sleeves. So, while I wasn't all that surprised to get flowers from him, I was surprised to see it waiting outside our bedroom door when I woke up the morning of my birthday. Turned out he arranged for an early morning delivery.

The bouquet contains three each of some of my favorite flowers - three red Roses, three pink Carnations, three Gerberas (in assorted colors) three Lilies, and a lot of beautiful fillers. I just love getting flowers! And he knows it!

We had lunch at Abe right after our Blow Up Babies appointment. I blogged about that here. Anyway, it had been very difficult to reserve tables at Abe but we were able to book one for my birthday. Yahoo!

We ordered Binukadkad na plapla which I first discovered at Bistro Remedios. Now, this dish is actually available in many other restaurants (like Recipes) but it's only here where it is paired with Burong Dalag which I thought is the best way to eat this dish.


A meal won't be complete without veggies so we ordered Pinakbet. It was ok, nothing really spectacular - just your average pinakbet.

Now, I had been looking forward to ordering the Sinuteng Baby Squid. Unfortunately, it was unavailable so we ordered Sisig instead. No luck. It was also unavailable! Sigh. We settled with the Crispy Shrimps which was good but I had my heart set on the baby squid.
After lunch, we stopped by the Home Depot nearby to get some kitchen stuff for my newly renovated kitchen. Then we headed to the Manila Ocean Park. I've got to tell you this. I've been planning to go to MOP for a long time and I thought I'd surprise Ariel on my birthday. So I told him that I have an itinerary and that he should leave it up to me. Days before my birthday, Ariel told me that whatever my plans are, I should give him 3 hours because he has a surprise for me. I had a very strong feeling about it so I asked him if he's taking me to MOP. True enough, our surprise for each other is a visit to MOP.

Our plans ended with MOP. After that, it was totally spontaneous. Ariel asked me if I want to go to Fort Santiago. It's been over two decades since I was last there so I readily agreed. It was a bit unkempt. I think we are doing a poor job maintaining our historical sites. Tsk. Tsk. Nonetheless, it's still beautiful and very photo-worthy.

After our tour of Fort Santiago, I asked Ariel to take care of choosing our dinner destination. He brought me to Ilustrado which I really liked because that only means we're having Paella for dinner. It was our first time to eat there and we had a wonderful time.
Ariel ordered red wine while I opted for white. We skipped appetizer because we need the tummy space for the heavy paella dish.
Ariel also got a fish dish with lots of garlic. Yummy!!!
For dessert, we ordered Canonigo which is a popular Spanish dessert. It's like the outside of Brazo De Mercedes which is light and fluffy, topped with vanilla and caramel sauce , and mango balls. The sauce is too sweet for my taste but it was a great end to our mouthwatering dinner.
Tired from a packed day, we just went home after dinner instead of going to the spa which we initially planned. We opted for a home massage so we can go to sleep immediately after. Before I went to bed, hubby presented his final surprise - a white leather-strapped wristwatch which I saw at a jewelry store months ago.

See all photos here.

Can't wait for my birthday next year! :D