Saturday, July 30, 2011

I just got home from a fun evening with my brother Ming, his girlfriend Seryl, Jenny, Ming's high school friend who eventually became one of closest girlfriends. Of course, she and Noy have become good friends, too.

It was spur of the moment, but Ming happens to be a very big fan of Periperi chicken, he can't wait for Seryl to try it. Seryl is a nurse who's leaving for Saudi in a few days, that's why Ming is in town, too. Jenny hasn't tried Periperi until tonight, and she liked it, too.

The mandatory after-dinner coffee took us to Caffe Firenzo after realizing the more popular places are just packed on a rainy Saturday night. I was instantly attracted to the serious ambience inside. It wasn't packed, but it wasn't empty either. There was an empty spacious "booth" lined with soft leatherette-covered couches that are neither too firm nor too comfortable. It was perfect for us.

I tried their Iced Latte and was happy with the robust Lavazza flavor. My companions are not big coffee drinkers but found themselves half-wishing they could drink more. The star of the evening was their Mocha Green Tea cake - it was so good we forgot to take a picture of it! It was light with the just the right amount of creamy mocha between slices of superb chiffon covered with friendliest luscious green tea crumbs. (I say friendly because I was never a fan of green tea except of its liquid form. Oh, and green tea latte just tastes like grass.)

Finally - a discreet, cozy and comfortable place that serves good coffee without the noise and hoopla. I'm happy I discovered it with people I just love.


I hope your weekend was delightful, too!


Sunday, July 10, 2011

Soothing Sunday: Movie Date at Home

This afternoon, Noy set the TV and his laptop up so we could watch Sherlock Holmes more comfortably together. We haven't had this much time together in a long time, so we decided to whip up a few simple dishes to munch on while we watched. He cooked kung pao pasta while I made corned beef pandesal.

Okay, I bought the salad because I was too lazy to prepare all the ingredients (not to mention expensive) - peaches, grapes, mandarin oranges, kiwi, and almonds. See the large chunks of onion on the corned beef? I was just too lazy. Buying the ready-made salad turned out to be a good idea anyway because Noy almost didn't leave any for me - he loved the strawberry vinaigrette very much! He can't stop telling me how much he loved it.

As for the movie, it wasn't the best we've seen, sadly. I actually fell asleep for a few minutes, what with the comfortable, cool, and cozy bed and weather! But the best part is I got to spend a few stress-free hours with the husband. I guess that's what Sundays are for, really.



Sunday, July 03, 2011

Soothing Sunday: My Payag

Good Sunday afternoon, everyone! It's a bright sunny day, just about the right time to start having a regular blog feature - the Soothing Sunday. I'm all about relaxing and just taking it slow on a Sunday (read: hospital duty barred forever!), so sharing anything relaxing on a Sunday is one great way for me to relax on a Sunday! This is so exciting for me, so I hope you'd all take some time to check my blog out.

There's no better way to start this feature than showing off one of my treasured things in this world - my payag. Payag is Visayan for "small hut". I asked my parents to build one in Mama's garden as a place for us to sleep in the afternoons. It started as a very small sitting room until we had enough funds to build a two-storey structure with a bedroom and a balcony. From then on, we stayed there more often that inside the house. We have breakfast there sometimes. The fact that the payag is surrounded on three sides by fruit-bearing trees and flowers and a rice field on one side is a real treat - the wind that breezes through is always fresh-smelling and definitely sleep-inducing.

Every time I come home to my parent's house in Aklan I always looked forward to having an entire day spent in my payag - reading my favorite book, pouring through old family photos, having merienda of kumbo (Aklanon for maruya, banana fritter) and fresh buko juice (just picked from one of our coconut trees), chatting with Mama, and of course, sleeping!

With that I'm off for some cheap airfare hunting - I wanna come home soon.


Have a soothing Sunday,

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