Singapore Adventure: Pre-Christmas Get Together

The Cookies love going on dates.  Well, the myriad of photos in our Facebook albums of us on a date should suffice as proof. 

But every once in a while, it feels really nice to out with friends.  Especially those who are so dear to us.  :)

The past Sunday, we went out of our humble hole in Lakeside to meet up with Fred and Hazel, the Laus, and Capt Jet to share a (pre-Christmas) seafood dinner at the No Signboard Seafood restaurant in Vivo City.

Side topic >> Surprisingly, we have figured out that we can take a bus directly to Vivo City from the bus stop just across our block. Neat!  The bus ride takes around 40 minutes, which is just about the same time if we take the MRT which requires a transfer from the EWL (Green) to the NEL (Purple).

Okay, so on with the group date. :)

The original plan was to have it at the Holiday Inn in Orchard so we could checkout the buffet lineup they have over there, but the restaurant was already fully booked. Too bad.  So, the next best thing is to do Chili Crabs! Hehehe... It was then decided to have dinner at the No Signboard Seafood Restaurant.

We ordered the usual - Chili Crabs with Sri Lankan crabs, Crispy Baby Squid, Cereal Prawn (which I only found out from Hazel you can request to have the prawn shelled), Sharksfin Soup with Crab Meat, Hokkien Mee, and Yang Chow Fried Rice.  Fred kidded about the bulk order to be our last meal. Hahaha.. Well, can you blame me, these are my all-time favorite foods at that restaurant, and you asked me to place the order. What do you expect? :P

Baby Cedric joined us for dinner.  And he was truly adorable! 

He ate on his own, and inspite of the little mess he made, it was just delightful seeing him scoop the rice from the bowl and taking a mouthful of it.  And the way he had his noodles with a big slurp is just soooo cute!

And the face he made when he had a spoonful of Sharksfin Soup will definetly bring a smile to your lips. Hehehe...



After dinner, we headed for a little stroll on the roof deck to see the giant Christmas Tree. Of course, it's photo time! :)



And to cap the night off, a nice Christmas Fondue dessert at Haagen-Dazs. 

It was a good way to start the week. :)

So that concludes the Pre-Christmas Dinner with Capt Jet.  Now I am off to plan the Christmas Dinner. Hmmm... Ideas, ideas...

Singapore Adventure: Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Happy Chinese New Year! May we all have a prosperous Year of the Ox ahead.

- o0o -

Today, I had my college friends over for lunch. Why? Well, there are a couple of reasons...

(1) We've been here at our Marsiling flat for over a year now and they haven't seen our place yet.

(2) I want to show off my newly-acquired cooking skills.

(3) A little Chinese New Year celebration.

(4) For a long overdue catch up.

(5) To celebrate my recent change in "status". ^_^

I served Pancit Canton, Meatballs, Buttered Garlic Shrimp, and Barbecued Pork Chops. For dessert, I made some Leche Flan (my tried and tested recipe, of course!) Pipay brought some bibingka, it was very nice. Though they didn't openly admit my cooking is good, the several rounds they took around the buffet table gave them away. :P (You did enjoy my cooking, right?)

Their visit was short but definitely sweet. We didn't even get to snap photos, or try our new Wii game (House of the Dead 2 & 3), or belt a couple of songs out with our new Magic Sing (Wow Concerto 2009 Edition).

But what we did do is browse through our Baguio Adventure Scrapbook, a trip we took in 2003). Lanie and April, you seriously need to come out clean... No more secrets to Dave and Aldwin... Hahaha....

Looking forward to seeing my girlfriends again. Speaking of which... Mae, Egay, Jing, I miss you!!!

Malaysia Adventure: Day One - Catching Up

Another great thing of being in KL is getting to see a friend after quite a while. A little catch up and some great new memories to take back home when the visit is over. Memories just enough to last until the next rendezvous.

Mun played host to the Cookies while at KL. She gave us some tips on which nice places to visit and how to get around KL by maximizing the convenience of their train system. Also, the day of our flight, she sent us the news that flight scheduled to land at the LCCT might be delayed due to the small fire that broke out in the airport that same morning. For all these great help, the Cookies are so very thankful.

Oh, and did I mention she took us out to a wonderful dinner of Malaysian dishes at Madam Kwan's in the new Pavillion Mall? ^_^

We had King Prawns, Chicken Curry, Vegetables with Beancurd, Fried Rice, Char Kuay Teow, and delicious classic ice lemon tea. It was indeed a feast! And we did finish the whole flair! But the best part of the meeting was definitely the conversation.

(It was actually Mun's idea that I take a photo of the food as she's been an avid reader of the Cookie Adventures blog. ^_^)

Here is a quick snap of us girls. My Cookie took the photo. The background is the entrance of the restaurant where we had our dinner.

After dinner, we explored a bit of the mall. The boutiques were not so different from what the Singapore Malls have. But in Malaysia, they have Parksons. It is the more popular of the departmental stores there.

Being a weekend, the mall was a bit crowded. And with the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations, the mall was all dressed up for the occasion. Trees with cherry blooms lined the stairs leading to the mall atrium. It was eye candy indeed!

As we set out for the mall exit, we chanced upon the Golden Ox display. There were plenty of people taking photos. But we just need to have this photo and so we squeezed ourselves in. No regrets, it was a great photo, taken by Mun. It's our only photo together in Malaysia taken by a third party. ^_^

TO BE CONTINUED...

Singapore Adventure: Playing Hosts

This is a long overdue entry. It's been quite hectic at work and there just is no time to put on my writer's cap on. But now I am back. Hopefully...

- o0o -

October 26 to 29, 2008. The Cookies played host to my cousin Rose and college batchmate Ritz who paid us a quick visit it being Semestral Break in the Philippines.

It was not even a weeks long! But we all had a blast. It was short and sweet indeed! ^_^

The usual tour itinerary for first timers in SG - Sentosa, Singapore Zoo and Night Safari, Science Centre and Snow City. And since our guests are really keen into "crossing the border", we literally did! A half day tour of Johore Bahru, Malaysia to cap off this wonderful vacation.

- o0o -

Early start for the gang. We waited for the Tour Bus at the Marriot Hotel lobby. At 9:00 am, the group joined the other tourists in a bigger Tour Bus at the Singapore Flyer site. From there, we drove down to Johore Bahru.

At the Malaysian side of the border, our tour guide for the day, Asok, joined us. Then our first stop was at the Batik Craft Centre. Apart from the informative lecture on Batik making, the staff also rendered a musical performance playing Malaysian native musical instruments. The "angklung" is specifically interesting. According to my Cookie, it is now his favorite musical instrument! ^_^

As part of the tour, we drove down to other tourist stops in JB like the Mosque, the Cemetery, and a typical Malaysian household with a lush backyard garden where we were also entertained with some music and dancing.

It was only a quick half day tour, but truly informative! And below is a photo of the tourists with Asok the tour guide.

- o0o -

We enjoyed ourselves indeed, though we burnt holes into our pockets with plenty of "take homes" to remember this travel.

We got silk Batik scarves, a pewter cup set, t-shirts, and an angklung CD recording. Hehe...

Philippine Adventure: Last Hurrah!

The Cookies are down to the last few days of their 15-day home visit. And it will be a while again before they can come back home. It isn't very easy to get a long break from work, and once a chance comes by, it is an opportunity one should never pass on. Hehehe...

And so, it's the "last hurrah" for this wonderful Cookie Philippine Adventure.

Day 13 - 11 September, 2008 (Thursday)

Being home, it's nice that we were able to celebrate our 32nd monthsary the way we used to - a nice filling food trip, strolling the malls, raiding the video store, and a round of games at the Timezone.

We had lunch at Kamayan. Last pigging out on Pinoy dishes. We went in quite late and so some of the dishes were already out. But still we were able to sample some of the nice food stuff. The desserts were pleasing. And I still had my last chance to feast on green mangoes and bagoong. Hehehe...

At the arcades, we played the Silent Hill game. And after several swipes, we finished it. We actually made it on the top score board. Nice.

Day 14 - 12 September, 2008 (Friday)

No more outings for the Cookies. This is our final rest day. Time to start packing and get all our stuff together in preparation for the big trip back to Singapore.

But inspite of this, I called for an impromptu "Pamper Princess Cookie Day". I went for a relaxing footspa and a haircut.

My Shobe, Shoti and Mama also joined me. And so, after our salon escapade, we all went to dinner at the Orient Pearl Chinese Restaurant near our home. We had coldcuts platter for appetizers, fish lip soup, steamed lapu-lapu, yang chow fried rice, kangkong with chinese bagoong, and gallons of chinese tea. Haha..

I miss having dinners like this with my family. If there's one thing my family loves to do, it would be enjoying a sumptous meal. Too bad, no photos this time. Sniff. Actually, come to think of it, I didn't take photos of my family this time around. Hmmm... Curious.

Day 15 - 13 September, 2008 (Saturday)

It's THE day. But before heading to the airport, we just had to meet the newly-weds for lunch at the Outback Steakhouse in Glorietta. They just got back from their Hongkong-Macau honeymoon and they had tons of stories and photos to share with us. :)

Then we were off to the airport. For Cebu Pacific flights, it flies out from the shiny new Terminal 3. And honestly, the design is quite impressive. If not for the news that came out the day before of one section's ceiling crashing down, I would have to say after all the controversies surrounding the construction of this airport, the government finally did something commendable.

Oh, by the way, meet Jerome. He's joining us for a week on vacation in Singapore.

So, we'll see you back in Singapore.

Philippine Adventure: Day 6 - Shopping

Finally, it's time to do some shopping. Well, we only did some mild shopping as the Cookies still need some stuff to complete our ensemble for the wedding on Saturday that we're attending.

But before the shopping begun, I went with my Cookie's family to pay my Cookie's Dad a visit. It was a worthwhile visit.

Grabbed a quick lunch at the Glorietta 4 Food Choices. It's been a while since we had World Chicken platters - grilled boneless chicken breasts with any choice of dressing (ranch barbecue FTW!!!), 2 big servings of side dishes (macaroni salad, spaghetti, baked potatoes, and mashed potatoes FTW!!!)

We were filled to the brim. Burp! We have to shake it off first before the main event which entails lots of walking and lifting (of shopping bags! hahaha).

Timezone Glorietta 4 is just one floor up, and so it is settled. A little game won't hurt. At least for all the rest of the games I didn't beat my Cookie at. Hahaha..

There are several new games available at the Timezone, including a Deal or No Deal spin-off which pays in Timezone Tickets. You can win as much as 100 tickets (but the actual prize tickets won are divided by two, so that makes it only 50 tickets). I bagged 5 tickets, while my Cookie won 19 tickets.

My Cookie also tried the Fighter Plane game. Here's he shooting some enemy crafts. :)

Then it was time to proceed to the main event. Hehe... Let's get shoppings. A quick trip to Marks & Spencer for my Cookie's trousers. Got a reasonably priced on. The inventory and the cost is pretty much the same as that of the M&S shops in Singapore. And the service is even much better as when shopping in M&S in Manila, you get your own shopping assistant, unlike in SG where you are expected to manage on your own.

The trousers is done. Now, it's time to shop for shoes. We went to Mendrez, Florsheim, Rustan's, and all the other shoe shops for men that I know. Nothing in there that fits my Cookie's style and budget. Hehe... But after traipsing the mall for some more time, we found the perfect pair at Rockport. I also got a pair of nice comfy sandals.

Then it was time for a quick juice break at The Big Chill. Fresh Ripe Mango for my Cookie, and Fresh Green Mango for me. Yum! And then some more shopping. At some point, we got hungry and decided to indulge in some local food feast - Jollibee! Yeah, I already had my Jollibee day. But this is different, because it is a Jollibee day with my Prince Cookie. Yihee...

We had Palabok Fiesta, Jolly Spaghetti, Jolly Hotdog and Hot Fudge Sunday. Yum! ^_^

Next stop is SM Makati. Some more shopping for accessories - a belt for my Cookie and a bag for me to match the shoes and dress. And before finally meeting up with my Kumares to have dinner at Sentro in Greenbelt 3, we paid the Video and Music section at SM for a quick panic shopping spree. Bwahaha!!!

Spent almost 5 thousand pesos in video and music discs. Hehehe.. I got KC's debut album. I am interested to know how she sounds. Some Tagalog flicks that I can bring back to SG. I am still yet to find where in SG to get Tagalong flicks.

Okay, let's grab some dinner at Sentro, Greenbelt 3. Indeed, the food is interesting. A nice modern twist on popular Filipino dishes. The specialty of the house is their Sinigang na Corned Beef. We also ordered for Rated GG (galunggong fish fillet topped with crispy garlic bits, Sentro's rendition of Spanish Sardines?), Green Mango Ensalada (as my kumare Eileene said, it is indeed "kakaiba"), Ukoy (vegetable fritters), and Halo-Halo for dessert.

Here's a photo of the party. Sayang, kulang na kami ng isa, wala na si Iris, nasa New Zealand na. Sniff.

It was a fun day indeed. Tiring, expensive, but definitely fun! ^_^

Philippine Adventure: Day 2 & 3 - Food Tripping

In the last two days, I've managed to pay my favorite places a visit.

The food places include TGi Friday's and North Park in Glorietta and Krocodile Grille in Greenbelt. I have also been to Timezone also in Glorietta and the Greenbelt 3 Cinemas.

Sunday evening, the Cookies hooked up with my Prince Cookie's high school buds for dinner at TGi Friday's. The boys had a lot of fun catching up and reminiscing their high school adventures. It was fun listening to their stories.

At TGi Friday's, there was a display of something very familiar to me and especially to my Prince Cookie... Here it is! Hehehe...

(Esso is my Cookie's employer in Singapore. ^_^)

After dinner, we had a go at the hoop and driving games, as well as other ticket-generating games at Timezone. Here is a photo of my Cookie driving an 18-Wheeler. :)) Honk! Honk!

The following day, I went with my Mum and sibs to the DFA to file for their Passport application. Well, they've revised the procedure, making it more cumbersome and painful for the applicants. Oh, let's just not talk about it. To cut the long story short, we have to make another trip to DFA tomorrow, hopefully our last.

After the quick DFA visit, we grabbed a late lunch at North Park. Then we hit Greenbelt 3 to see a movie - For The First Time. The very controversial movie by KC Concepcion and Richard Gutierrez.

I must say it was a total disappointment on my part. All the hype around it plus the television network feud and the endless word wars, I've realized, were just there to create noise for the movie. When in truth, aside from the beautiful stars and the wonderful cinematography (the movie was partly shot in Santorini, Greece), there really wasn't much of a storyline to brag about. Even the acting by the lead female is not so impressive. Considering her theater background, the acoustics is good, but the visual is not quite at par. Come to think of it, paying 180 PHP for the movie is just too expensive.

My Cookie joined us after the movie. We have set a date with his ex-colleagues for dinner at the Krocodile Grille also at Greenbelt 3.

During the same dinner, a rendezvous with soon-to-be-married Pia and George also gave us some time to catch up prior to the big day (on Saturday, 6 September 2008) where my Cookie is the Best man. Congratulations and Best Wishes to George and Pia! :)

So, that's how the last 2 days was spent. Today will just be spent at home for some well-deserved rest. The following days will surely be hectic again.

Philippine Adventure: Wondering What I have been Up To? (Part 2)

When: 25-26 April 2008
Where: Calatagan, Batangas

One of the things I have missed being abroad is the company of my kumares. They are my food trip buddies and lacuacha buddies of all time! Hehehe...

This time we went on a road trip to Calatagan, Batangas where the Golden Sunset Resort sits. It was only an overnight thing but the fun level hit a high mark.

We went swimming and toured around the resort. During our visit, the Miss Philippines Earth were also checked in. We had a glimpse of the candidates but dismissed it seeing we are way prettier! Hahaha...

Too bad we were not able to see the Balsa Show and the famous Golden Sunset Critters Parade. Sigh. The resort food isn't as exciting either. But the Batangas Coffee is still phenomenal.

After checking out of we went to Caleruega Church for some sight-seeing. Then dinner was served at Leslie's in Tagaytay. Sarap ng bulalo!!!

More photos of our Batangas-Tagaytay Adventure in my Friendster Photo Album.

Singapore Adventure: HK Postcard

Got this postcard from Yen's Hong Kong trip. Thanks! It's so very thoughtful.

I took a photo of the postcard from my office desk with the Samsung G800 phone 5 megapixel camera. Almost like taking the picture of the real thing. ^_^

Again, thanks, Yen!

Greetings: Congratulations and Best Wishes, Neus and Astrid

Acknowledgments

Photos: AFM Sison-Caragay

Digital Kit: Retrodiva No Room For Grey Paper and Elements

Fonts: Scriptina, Stuyvesant BT

Philippine Adventure: Post Script

Before I finally get over my quick visit to my home, I just need to have these posted here.

Thanks to Stan for the photos of the dinner at Gerry's Grill and coffee at Max Brenner's from Day Two. Fred, where are the photos from your camera??? ;P

Here are some photos of me with my family. I miss them terribly. Sniff.

And, of course, of me and my Prince Cookie. ;)