Sunday Family Lunch at Seryna

Here's a brief picture introduction of my family first before I proceed with this particular post. My mother insisted that we get our pictures taken in a photo studio for Christmas, and this is what we came up with:

So that's my family right there. Daddy, Mommy, Bianca, and I had lunch at Seryna today to sort of celebrate her having passed ACET. Not that its important, really, because we're all still anticipating the results of UPCAT 2012. Almost all of us in the family are UP graduates, kasi. Here's a snapshot of Bianca's name in the ACET website:

Congratulations, Bianca. You passed your back-up school. Let's wait for the UPCAT results, I'm sure it will be out any day.

So lunch in Seryna was full of advice for the youngest and only girl in the brood, the topic staying within the assumption that Bianca will be studying in UP Diliman by next school year. Of course, what's a Seryna lunch without their delectable Gozens?

I ordered my ultimate favorite, the Kaizen Gozen, which I always see as Chirashi Sushi, but nonetheless, here's a picture of it.

But wait, there's more! If i take the bento box apart, you will see the rice hidden in the compartment underneath.

Bianca ordered the Sukiyaki Gozen.

Mommy wanted to try something new, so she ordered the Sashimi Gozen, which, I would have to say, is still not quite Kaizen Gozen, but good enough.

Daddy ordered the Sushi Gozen. I still would've stuck it out with Kaizen Gozen.

Seryna's gozens are quite affordable during lunchtime. They're only priced at PhP 350.00 each. So our total bill, all in all, was only PhP 1,400.00 for lunch!

Took some artsy-fartsy photos of the Kikkoman container on the table.

We went condo-shopping afterwards, and drove to UP Diliman to check if they posted the UPCAT results already. Unfortunately, the results aren't available yet, so we'll just have to wait it out further.

For everyone's reference:

Seryna Japanese Restaurant
2277 Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City
tel. no. 894.3855

What Are #ConyoProblems?

I got introduced to this one today by my co-manager. I'm not sure if it's trending in Twitter, or anything, however, looking through the #conyoproblems listed in Twitter are just trying-hard problems concocted by people who think it is a compliment to be tagged as such.

As defined by tagdef.com, #conyoproblems refers to "Pinoys and Filipinos who have problems and use cash to fix them." I would suppose what it means is some Filipinos who encounter problems and issues have escapist attitudes, and in order to get away from their issues would shop, or buy something, to distract themselves.

So a person trying to portray a spoiled brat talking to his/her nanny commenting, "eeeew, Lacoste," after seeing a lizard is not #conyoproblems. So to Twitter-verse, don't try so hard. Really, only people who are actually used to this particular therapy for problems can really pull it off.

Here's an issue I'd like to share, therefore. Been having a bad day because of the erratic internet connection in the office, I ended up not being able to file the issues that were falling onto my plate. This problem with the internet made me realize I was not happy with the pair of eyeglasses I was wearing, especially if I were to use it during weekends in a pair of khaki shorts and polo-shirt... it's too formal. So my solution, to get my mind off screaming at the internet service provider as well, is to buy a pair of plastic-framed prescription glasses I can use for weekends.

So I ended up trudging, and I do mean trudging because my left thigh muscles are strained from lack of potassium, to Sarabia Optical in Greenbelt 1 (yes, I cheated on Rita Optical today), and bought a pair of Zoo York plastic-framed prescriptions. To spice things up on the blog, I found pretty freaky pictures of the Zoo York prescriptions I purchased.

borrowed from keitheyelab.com

borrowed from keitheyelab.com

Danny's Pre-Birthday Dinner at Mamou Serendra

Since Danny will be in London for his birthday, and we will be unable to celebrate on the day itself, we decided to have his pre-birthday dinner today instead. Serendra in Rockwell was full for the 6:30PM seating, so we reserved for Mamou in Serendra instead.

We ordered the Lorenzo Truffle Cream Pasta as an appetizer yet again. Didn't mean to post another picture of it,  but since I enjoyed it, so much even if its the second time I've tried it, here's another shot of it.

I tried ordering the Kurobuta Mamou Katsu, but it was still out of stock. According to the server, they were planning on taking it out already as they were having problems with the supplier. Danny and I ended up ordering 14oz of Wawa's Prime Rib, medium rare of course. The server gave us a little horseradish dip, which went rather well with the steak.

Here's a picture of the wonderful horseradish dip

We were both full we couldn't eat dessert anymore. It doesn't mean we didn't buy some though. We ordered cupcakes to go from Cupcakes by Sonja. We bought my favorite Red Velvet Vixen, PB&J, Berries N' Cream, and Valrhona Milk Choco-Hazelnut Tart.

Happy Birthday Danny!

For everyone's reference:

Mamou
Serendra, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
tel. no. 856.3569

Tsukiji Dinner After an Exhausting Day!

Yesterday was a pretty exhausting day! There were so many meetings that needed attending to. I was really looking forward to eating dinner at Manila Maki along Dela Costa in Salcedo Village, but when Danny and I got there (after successfully evading the horrid Makati rush hour with my brilliant driving), they were already full for the evening. Since I was really in the mood to have a Japanese dinner because of the long day I had, we decided to eat in Tsukiji instead. So off to Pasay Road, and the Greenbelt area again, but we were still successful in evading the horrid traffic!

It was my first time to eat in Tsukiji, even if it is just behind my office. It was such a treat, entering the Milky Way building was like entering a time machine to the 80s.

While waiting for dinner, I tried my best to take artsy-fartsy photos. Here's a picture of the soy sauce. The container was so cute.

I took pictures of the things beside our table, including the poor little fishes trapped in the tank.

 Danny ordered Wagyu Beef Sashimi. At first, I was a bit scared eating raw beef. but it was soooo good!

The meat was so soft! I definitely will have more of this sashimi in the future!

Danny ordered the Daimyo Chirashi Sushi to share. It was good. It had more than the fair share of sashimi in other Chirashi Sushis. Plus the wasabi was freshly made, well done!

I had the Halo Halo Donburi. The donburi was reasonably priced compared to most of what we had ordered. The donburi had breaded shrimp, squid, oyster, fish and pork.

Danny ordered the Tsukiji Donburi, which had his favorite, grilled eel.

Tsukiji is one of the few Japanese restaurants in the metro that imports its seafood from Japan. They usually have these flown in thrice a week. Tsukiji is the name of a fish market in Japan. The Japanese seafood makes all the difference, it has me doggone convinced I should go fly to Japan this year to try these fresh! Prices are better compared to Sushi Kappo, though.

Keep you posted for more!

For everyone's reference:

Tsukiji Restaurant
3rd Level, Milky Way Building
900 A. Arnaiz Ave. (formerly Pasay Road),
Brgy. San Lorenzo, Makati
tel. no. 843.4285

Discovering Carmen's Best Ice Cream

Danny and I were looking for dessert after a heavy dinner at home last Wednesday. We tried a cheesecake and fruit shake from Starbuck's but it didn't really cut it. Surfing on the iPad, however, Danny was able to stumble upon an article naming Carmen's Best as one of the best ice creams in the metro. A couple of calls later we hopped onto the car and drove up to Centrum in Salcedo Village where we purchased a pint from the security guard! Here's a snapshot of the ice cream, we got Salted Caramel!

A pint was around PhP 350.00, and it was worth everything! I want to try out more flavors from Carmen's Best! Best first food discovery for 2012!

Keep you posted for more!

For everyone's reference:

Carmen's Best Ice Cream (pick-up point)
Centrum II Building, 150 Valero Street,
Salcedo Village, Makati
tel. no. 809.2042 (to arrange order)

Best Christmas Gifts of 2011

Here's a list of the Christmas gifts I love most from this year's holiday season. Of course I won't name na who gave the gifts to me. All the gifts I received this Christmas are truly special!

1. Bric's  X-Travel 2-Wheel Vertical Trolley Business Case

borrowed from luggagesuperstore.co.uk

I love it because it fits my massive 17-inch laptop. Plus, it makes lugging around a laptop, an iPad, an iPod, a Blackberry, a Nokia N8, a wallet, and so many other things easy.

2. Paul Smith Stamp Print Wash Bag

borrowed from mrporter.com

I love a good clutch bag. I don't usually bring one around all the time, but I love that it keeps all my things in one place when left inside the car.

3. Amazon Kindle 4th Generation

borrowed from gdgt.com

No longer will I have to suffer eye-strain! Plus, no more worries of not being able to lug around a library. Shopping for hard to find titles is now as easy as going online!

4. Salvatore Ferragamo Tuscan Soul

borrowed from dfp.com.ph

I love its scent. It is very relaxing. I think its the new CKOne, meaning it should be the new "it" unisex perfume.

5. Parker I.M. Pens in Taupe, Cocoa and Dust

Cocoa Parker I.M. borrowed from ilovepens.co.uk

Dust Parker I.M. borrowed from ilovepens.co.uk

Taupe Parker I.M. borrowed from theonlinepencompany.com

Parker is my favorite everyday pen of choice. I have a lot. I try to collect as many of the different colors as I can. The I.M. pens given to me are so beautiful, it's the first time I saw these. 

6. T. Porcupine Key Ring

borrowed from beli4u.com

The key ring given to me is beige, so it looks more like a hedgehog than a porcupine. In fact, it complements my Coccinelle hedgehog on ostrich key chain. It's the 3D version of my keychain!

Merry Christmas everyone!

A-List Christmas Party at the Oakwood Premier Joy-Nostalg Center

The A-List Manila Team had their Christmas party at one of the 2-bedroom suites in the Oakwood Premier Joy-Nostalg Center. Derek was the one who organized the party. Here are pictures of the appetizers that were prepared for the party.

Derek prepared Caviar Pie. It was really good! I love the assortment of chips and crackers that were chosen for the caviar. One of the crackers, if I'm not mistaken, was gluten-free Cracklebred. 

Yep, Cracklebred is back!

borrowed from amazon.com

Derek also prepared a platter of cheese, which I took with a couple or so glasses of cooking white wine! 

Yes, that's truffle-honey beside the plate of cheese! Truffle-honey goes with everything! From appetizers to main course! Derek was the one who made the dips, except for the bowl with no name-flag. Throughout the night, we referred to it as the mystery meat. 

Chikay cooked the main course. She made risotto and roast chicken. Unfortunately, wasn't able to take a picture of these, though. 

What I did get a snapshot of, though, was the bathroom in the master's bedroom of the suite. It had a window!

The suite was nice. The hotel is supposed to be for long-staying guests, serviced apartments mostly for the expats of ADB, I suppose. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go around the amenity area, though. 

Happy New Year everybody! 

For everyone's reference:

Oakwood Premier Joy-Nostalg Center Manila

17 ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig

tel. no. 637.7888 / 910.8888