Chapter 3: Discussing Life at Pages Deli

I just love love love Pages Deli. It’s definitely one place I’m sure will make me smile when I’m down. The scrumptious sandwiches and the to-die-for salads always push me to visit this place again. I noticed though that every time I visit this place, I am with a different companion and talks are becoming more and more serious. This time, my friend and I talked about life.

Hello again, Pages Deli. Did you miss me? Well, I did! *hug* (Okay, maybe I do have this weird relationship with food.)

I felt so guilty for being almost an hour late for my dinner date with J. I was planning to leave the office early so that I could head to Shangri-La on time and to have room for traffic but I guess I love work a bit more than food. When I arrived, J was patiently waiting. *guilty*

We quickly ordered the following: Roasted Tomato with Feta Cheese (PHP250), Journey to the Center of the Earth (PHP250), and Seafood and Sundried Tomatoes (PHP300). I also ordered Lime Shake (PHP90) to make me feel less guilty for munching 3 dishes for dinner.

Foodie Alert: Yummy Eats 2012

May is starting to become one of my favorite months. (No, I am not yet a mom and I am not expecting a baby anytime soon.) There just seem to be a lot of things happening on this month. First off, May starts with “no work” because of labor day. There are also other fun events such as fun runs, a Manila Amazing Race (c/o Couchsurfing) and of course, one super Yummy event.

It’s back! It really is back! Yummy Eats 2012 is about to happen in 26 days! This is definitely the start of my countdown.

For those who were not able to attend Yummy Eats last year, well, this is your chance! Yummy Eats is an eating and cooking fair that rounds up some of the best finds in Manila (and some even in nearby provinces)! Screened by the editorial team of Yummy magazine, you’ll surely find a new food favorite. I did last year. (Oh wait, I had favorites!) There will also be several cooking demos giving you new recipe ideas and a cook-off but this one will not be your usual kind. (Intriguing, right?)

Black Day Snacks at Milky Way Tea

I just realized that more often than not, whenever I go out with friends, we usually have at least two stops—one for a real meal and one for just-because-we-want-to-eat-more-even-though-we-are-already-full or more to put it simply, pure gluttony. This entry is the part 2 of the Black Day celebration where I was the only one in black. *pouts*

Hello Milky Way Tea!

 

It took me quite a while to pay this place a visit. But since Black Day is a special day, I just have to visit it with my Dongguk friends (minus one since D has another date *hurt*).

Black Day Lunch at Jang Ga Nae

I just adore my Dongguk friends. (Note: Dongguk is one of the universities in Seoul, Korea where I studied for 5 months with some students from UA&P and UP.) Without them, I won't be able to spend the fun Korean "traditions" or events such as Peppero Day (11-11) which is similar to Valentine's Day and Black Day (4-14) which is celebrated by those who did not receive any chocolates during Valentine's Day and White Day (3-14--which is when the guys give the girls they like chocolates).

Happy Black Day! Well, I am not sure if I said it right as if you reword it, it'll be "Happy Single Awareness Day!" For some reason, it sounds... wrong. 

Anyway, channeling the Korean in us, we thought of eating at Jang Ga Nae, a popular Korean restaurant along Escriva. We all decided to meet up at 12:30 p.m. but ended up meeting a bit later. 

I was the last one to arrive and to my surprise, T, K, and D were a NOT IN BLACK. *shocked*

Oh well. We were too hungry to be bothered with the lack of color coordination and decided to order. We chose ultimate favorite Bulgogi (PHP300), Gal Bi Jim (PHP300) and Dak Gal Bi (PHP350) as to avoid us looking too addicted to beef.

 

First served was the side dishes. K's eyes went from (-.-) to (o.o) as one of the side dishes was her favorite peanuts with sweet sauce (it tasted like sweet soy sauce). Other side dishes were kimchi, macaroni salad, greens, and bean sprouts (one of the side dishes I finished myself without offering a single strand... oops).

How To Become A Certified Foodie

Late last night, a good friend of mine posted a link on my wall. As a person who is online almost 24/7 given that my signal’s good, I check my mails and whatnot as soon as I receive it (unless I’m still at Dreamland).

List of food that makes you a foodie. That was the name of the article. It instantly got me interested and pushed me to check the list as soon as I heard the beep.

Love At Second Bite: Recipes by Café Metro

It thrills me every time I get to get out of my home-work-home routine on a weekday thus when my officemates planned a movie night out (we watched The Muppets and sad to say, I wasn’t able to watch the first 20 minutes of the movie as something urgent has to be done—yes, more urgent than to save the home of the Muppets), I immediately said yes. We planned to leave the office early to have time to eat dinner. 7 p.m. clock out, game!

To cut things short, we left around 7:45 p.m.. Still pretty close to the 7 p.m. plan. Sort of close.

 

We were famished when we arrived and a bit panicky as well since the movie will start at 9 p.m.. Clueless on where to eat, we decided to eat somewhere near the cinema. We first tried our luck with Recipes by Café Metro. And we were lucky that night! There was an available table for our party of 6.

Love At First Bite: J.Co Donuts & Coffee

I just love doughnuts! It is one of my top comfort food choices. I just love the sweet, chewy ones. I still drool whenever I remember the chewy doughnuts of Mister Donut in Seoul. It was love and definitely different from the ones available here (which I love too).

One typical workday turned special when we were surprised by several yellow boxes from J.Co. In short, we had a feast. The Alcapone was L-O-V-E. While munching on the doughnut topped with slices of almonds, I was informed by Frannywanny that J.Co will open their first store in Mega Mall and I was so thrilled as it is so near my "territory".

However, it took me quite a while before I got to pay J.Co a visit. But I just cannot keep on delaying it anymore and decided to visit it a few weeks ago. 

Hi, J.Co! *smile*

Blogging 101

For the past two days, I have been doing nothing but hibernating. I napped 6 times in one day and I would have never thought that such was possible. To keep me awake, I surfed the internet and found something that might interest newbie bloggers and blog readers alike.

Hello, Bloglovin'! 

I came across this site (which is also an app) last Thursday and I'm sure that those who have been blogging or reading blogs for a long time have heard of this site before. But for those who haven't, here are 3 reasons why you should check this site, or better yet, sign up!

 

The Pre-Birthday Lunch at Chefs' Quarter

It has always been a tradition for me to spend my birthday for at least three days. Spoiled, I know. But I just love love love birthdays. Most of my friends know that. There are even times when I’d resist sleeping just so I could be the first one to greet them (as I tend to be competitive even in the most bizarre things people do not even compete to be first). Note: I normally greet people privately unless I do not have their numbers. Given the chance, I’d send birthday cards instead of the usual “happy birthday” message via Facebook or SMS. It seems to be more personal and more sincere for me. Well, take it from a girl who fondly collects grocery receipts and Ferrero Rocher stickers.

I just love lunch dates with my dad. It makes me feel a lot closer to him even though all we talk about is work or how much he wanted to throw me to another country. Yes, that’s love.

 

Since it was a day before my birthday, I get to decide where to eat (without any violent reaction from his end). I decided to go for Chefs' Quarter, the restaurant we dined in during his birthday. He seemed fairly happy when we last visited that place.

A Glutton Favorite: Amici

Don’t you just love sibling bonding, especially when the word shopping is involved? But things can get really messy when you’re just given 3 hours to attend mass, shop, and have lunch.

3 hours to do three different things. You might think that it is long enough but I take food shopping seriously and I enjoy entering food stores to sniff and let out a loud aaah~ given that what they were cooking or baking smells delightful.

My sister and I agreed that we will first shop for a bit, then eat and finally attend mass at 2:30 p.m.. Fight!

After 30 minutes of walking around Forever 21, I felt my tummy begging for mercy and grumbling, “Feed me!” So, I looked for my sister and convinced her that it was time to have lunch with puppy eyes. (Fine, it looked more like eyes that will murder someone. I just can’t do that whole begging prettily style.)

I was eyeing Kebab Factory for I miss its Chicken Mast but my sister needed to be dragged inside the restaurant first before she agrees and I just do not have the energy to do so. Then light seemed to hit my eyes and saw… Amici. My sister loves pizza. This will do.

 

We instantly grabbed a table and ordered the following: Crema di Zucca (PHP134), Mozzarella Fritto (PHP220), Al Quattro Formaggi (PHP348), Linguine al Salmone Cremoso (PHP298), Mango Felicity (PHP80) and Brazo de Mercedes (PHP65). We also ordered one pitcher of coke just for the two of us.

My Best Food Forward Finds

I just love food events. Not only do I get to be surrounded by yummy food, I also get to sample and discover new food finds. 

Last weekend was yet another yummy weekend as Best Food Forward held yet another foodie event at the NBC Tent. I was quite sick that day so the pain of seeing sweets was too much to handle. I had to force myself from taking samples.

 

Fortunately, there were still a lot of other savory dishes that I was able to sink my teeth into. Here’s my top 5 finds:

Carlo’s Kitchen Crunchy Belly (PHP130, comes with rice)

 

I just love how the crispy the pork belly was and that it was not oily at all making it less sinful. My mom can’t help buying two orders of it. It was like eating chicharon with more pork meat. If your order is from a newly cooked batch, let it cool for a while to make sure that it’ll be crunchy. :D