Nanay’s Day

When someone hit me before that I was desperate to be a mom, I wanted to hit her back and tell straight in her face that I’m definitely not. Yes, I know I’m becoming egotistic about it but I won’t deny the fact that at my age right now I wanted a baby. Tho bearing one would be of much difficult this time, I still pray that we’ll be blessed soon.

Sunday was Mother’s Day and unlike last year we’re home this time to celebrate it. I had no plans to start the day tho I was considering three options for lunch. First was Gourmet Farms Mother’s Day Buffet but I find it pricey at P599 excluding drinks, so when Leoncio called up and was told that it would cost us P700+ per head I ditched the idea despite my wanting to sample their Mediterranean cuisine. On my second list is Bag of Beans Brunch Buffet, I know we’ll definitely enjoy this one but we were informed that they can no longer accept reservation, we were advised that walk-in can still be accepted only that waiting can be pain in the ass (they didn’t say the last part of course ). So when we left home past 12 noon, I was still undecided but in time (before we hit the ridge) figured out that we can give Josephine Restaurant’s a try.

At our arrival, I can see a lot of people waiting to be seated. If we came so hungry we could have backed out at once but sensing my party’s preparedness to wait there should be no room for any second thoughts. Plus I know anywhere in Tagaytay will be as jam-packed as Josephine’s that day. It took us almost an hour to get a seat and while waiting I still worried my Tatay would feel annoyed by the long line and people coming in. Happily he didn’t feel any in fact he’s relaxed the entire time while enjoying a cone of ice cream. Nanay on the other hand is easy to please, she’s simple like that. A Jollibee meal can make her smile already but Sunday was exceptional –it’s Mother’s Day you know. My parents are now senior citizens tho still active I know time will come that the outdoors will no longer friendly for them, so, while everything remains to be normal I want them to have a good time. And since it was Nanay’s day out and Tatay was just a tag along I gave her the floor to order to her heart’s desire.

I didn’t mind that we ordered the sinfully pork knuckles –Crispy Pata, it was mouth-watering, we also had an order of Kare-Kare which is equally good, Grilled Hito which Tatay ate by himself, Grilled Assorted Seafood and my new favorite Oyster Rockefeller. Sorry for the shortage of photos my SD card remains a problem till now.  Nanay doesn’t eat much meat and more of a veggie person but I was surprised how she knocked down the crispy pork meat. I love how she ate with much gusto this time without worrying anyone. I bet it would be a different scene if the kids were around because she would eventually gave out her share of whatever.

I know how she loves Halo-Halo so I didn’t zero this out right after a hefty lunch. We shared an order of Halo-Halo Espesyal which is nothing but of an old good Halo-Halo we can’t help but rave about. It was excellently good and reasonably priced. And I see us going back for this. By the way, I have to mention here that we got 10% discount courtesy of Nanay’s former student who’s working at Josephine’s.  Special thanks to you!

We’re done around 3pm and before we went home we lounge for a while at Josephine’s viewing deck of Taal Volcano. I don’t know but its panoramic view never fails to give me a chill of wonderment. We could just stay longer and sit down at those benches only that it began to rain slightly so we walk off and readily head home.

I am far from being a perfect daughter but while I have time I want to make the most out of it, I really wanted to make up for the lost times. I may not be outspoken of how I value you and love you but I hope my actions will be enough to prove you that all these years I only wanted to give back and say thank you for everything.

And Nanay, I won’t grew tired of your unending griping, I won’t grew tired of your stories of everyday, I won’t grew tired of sharing you my little things (clothes, escapades, etc.). We may not have that wonderful mother-daughter relationship nonetheless I know you love me and I love you back. Happy Mother’s Day Nanay!

Later that day I squeezed a date with the kiddos at Summit Ridge. No, they aren’t mine but they will always be my bundle of joys. They can be nasty and naughty at times but they’re my favorite in the world.

 

P.S. On my Mother’s Day day, there’s this thoughtful heart that did remember and recognize me as a “mom”. Thank you for seeing a mother figure in me GGB. 

 

Josephine Restaurant

Km. 58 Gen. Aguinaldo Highway, Maharlika West, Tagaytay City • © Josephine Restaurant 2010

 

Manila Landline: (02) 871.5627
Tagaytay: (046) 413.1801
Mobile: 09159856711
Fax: (046) 413.1802
Email: josephinetagaytay@gmail.com

Mama Always Said…

Life is like a box of chocolates.. You never know what you’re gonna get

Over the Holy Week I got to watch old films at night, among the heartwarming ones include The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Forrest Gump. The latter reminded me the lunch date with Elaine three weeks ago. We were having a leisurely walk in Greenbelt after checking out some items in Landmark when we spotted this restaurant at the second level of Greenbelt 3. We’re not that hungry yet but despite that we were like hypnotized to step in and eat.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. was one the restos we’ve talked about in facebook even before Elaine’s arrival. I remember that it’s my cousin JB who really wanted to try this resto so I posted this on my timeline to make him green with envy.

Snippet on my timeline last March 22 tagging Elaine and JB.

Tho on a second note I worried about us dining at Bubba Gump, I worried about Elaine’s allergic reaction to shrimps. I don’t want to spoil her vacay if she gets sick. But she insisted that we give it a try and thus she would be ordering herself non-shrimp plates, I wonder if there’s any knowing that the resto was famous for their shrimps. Lemme check

We had a hard time making our set, obvious for first-timers, so we were offered twice of their current promos. Anyhow, we’ve settled for pasta, rice and a whole lot more. I told you we’re not that hungry yet.

House Specialty Calamari Rings –A seafood lover’s favorite! Deep fried calamari, red bell peppers and pepperoncinis. Served with Dippin’ Sauces. Actually, Elaine ordered it when we’re already halfway of our lunch. The calamari was so tender and flavorful. I love it to bits!

Shrimp Rigatoni –Tender sautéed shrimp, rigatoni and fresh spinach are tossed in a creamy sundried tomato pesto cream sauce, and topped with parmesan cheese. I normally love my pasta with seafood and this is now my favorite pasta dish outshining House of Minis’ Gambaretti!

Grilled Dory with Jambalaya –Grilled cream dory over a spicy New Orlean’s style jambalaya with tender shrimp and andouille sausage. Elaine picked this without checking the rest of its concoction so I end eating the shrimps on her plate. One thing I realize after having too many meals with Elaine, she’s a big rice eater. Hehehe…

Mama Gump’s Garlic Bread Basket. I was asked if I wanted to add garlic bread, I nodded instantly thinking that it’s just perfect for my pasta. But I was surprised to get almost a half-size baguette with lots of parmesan and garlic! I had the other half wrapped.

Now, if you think we had enough you’re wrong because we didn’t quite stop from there.

Captain’s Fish and Chips –Beer battered dory. We were pushed to get this big plate because at 50% off (you can avail this by ordering a minimum of P1, 000 already), I thought it’s a very good deal. But we didn’t really touch this one and take out the whole order indeed.

The last but not the least offer to us was the Specialty Drinks 2 For The Price Of 1, I got myself the Mama’s Favorite –Kahlua, non-fat vanilla frozen yogurt, chocolate and disarrono amaretto. It was described as “Better than any box of chocolates!” and I couldn’t agree more. And if I remember it right Elaine got a Mango Mojito –A refreshing Cuban cocktail with a surprising twist of flavorful Mango. Yes, at lunch time she’s on her mojitos.

With all the big plates and so much food waiting for us, I realize how we’re so much like a newbie Jollibee customer, saying yes when offered this and that only to find out that he almost ordered half of Jollibee’s. Hahaha…

I’d love to frequent Bubba Gump only that I don’t think it’s practical, once in a while would be okay I guess. But really I love the food and I wanted to come back and try their Scampi, Shrimper’s Heaven, the Seafood Jambalaya, their famous Dixie Style Baby Back Ribs and the list goes on and on. Oh my!

P.S. Thank you Elaine for the lunch-date! I’m missin’ you now!

 

 

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

Unit 219 Level 2, Greenbelt 3

Makati City, 1200 Philippines

T. +632 7575154

 

happy breakfast plate :D

Yesterday while husband and I were on holiday mode we savor a longer sleep in the morning. It’s one of the luxuries of being a corporate slave so everytime there’s a chance to do it we indulge pleasantly. And concord to getting up late means brunch, like what we normally have on Sundays.

I love to stock breakfast goodies –eggs, canned goods, cold cuts, dried fish, fruits, greens and cheese. I also heart pancakes and waffles, but doing it at home, Honey let McDonalds continually do it for us now. I still need to master the perfectly round and fluffy pancakes, until then you’ll see me flickering photos of it everywhere. Hehehe…

Anyhow, yesterday I got my breakfast inspiration from Frances of Topaz Horizon, yes I read hers including her Topaz Mommy, though you don’t see her link on my Daily Reads yet, in fact I’m reading too many aside from my published list and I need to update soon. Oki, I didn’t exactly copied her breakfast plate because we do not have Hungarian sausages but took a mental note that the important item should be included in my set –the parmesan crisp!

While the cheese is baking, I have no oven at home so I make use of the oven toaster here; I slightly toasted some rye bread on a pan and made egg and Edam cheese sandwiches. And because we’re big eaters, a sandwich is not enough; I opened a can of Purefoods luncheon meat to include to our plates.

I’m not really a morning person but with breakfast as good as this everyday I’m willing to change habits.

 

Easter Sunday Lunch

Because it was Easter Sunday already we delight our tummies with bounties of the sea, our favorites!

Yep, lunch last Sunday was like in one of the buffets resto we’ve been only that we gave it a twist to make it look homey and relax. We convert our garage into a makeup dining hall, with banana leaves on table instead of plates.

And we literally ate on it using our hands, no fork or spoon, kamayan style.

I’m seeing us doing this regularly from now on and Ate SAM requested more grilled stuffs on our next pig-out. Oh my, DIET, where are you now?

 

my happy loot (a.k.a px goodies)

Call me a convert but I am so inlove with px goodies and balikbayan boxes. It’s not that I despise Philippine made merchandise but my heart really jumps everytime someone showers me with gifts from abroad.

Writing pad from Disneyland, Lancôme’s Miracle, Cape Cod Potato Chips (I wonder if this is available locally, pls message me if you know a store), B&B Hand Sanitizers, Chocolates (assorted pack of Snickers, Milky Way, Musketeers and Twix, Hershey nuggets and Starburst jellybeans) and American Eagle tee for the husband. Thank you to my dear friend Elaine for this loot.  And my happy jar of chocolate from my BIL arrived before the Holy Week.

 

Holy Week 2013: Part IV –Black Saturday with the maternals

After two days of road tripping with the family, we rested on Black Saturday. We felt exhausted by all the hustle and bustle of Holy Week including the very humid weather. Actually, we were planning to go somewhere else, go on a dip and bond but it didn’t happen. Glad that the maternal family saved it, we met up with my cousin, JB who recently came home from abroad.

And I don’t know what appeal does Yellow Cab (and Army Navy) have that despite the many choices in Tagaytay we always come back here and order pizza and pasta constantly.

The kids love it, the grown-ups do like it so how can you go wrong with that.

Oh kids these days! They know their gadgets brilliantly!

We had a good laugh over good food like the usual.

Then it’s time for our coffee fix, we moved to our favorite spot at Summit Ridge.

And the laughter went endlessly that night.

My maternal side is like that –cheerful, without-airs and the best is you can be yourself, no worries about being judged when you turn your backs.

Well, summer has just started folks, longing to see you more and more this season!

P.S. Thanks for the pizza treat JB!