Buon Giorno

For dinner with my in-laws, Richard and I chose our favorite restaurant in Tagaytay: Buon Giorno.
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Hasn't lost its charm after all these years.
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Richard and I had our first date here in Buon Giorno :)
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aWe sat on this table.
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Anyway, tama na ang cheesiness na yan. Let's get on with the dinner kwento.
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It was great to see my in-laws again. There was a lot of catching up to do. I'm also glad we chose Buon Giorno. It was like sharing our little secret with the family :)
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aNon-stop kwentuhan.
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aAly and lola Lilia.
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aKwentuhan pa rin.
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aKwentuhan pa rin ulit. Hehe!
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We took a short break from the kwentuhan when the bread arrived.
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aGuess whose hand this is?
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aIt's Aly's! Parang kamay ng grown up, no?
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aPasta Arrabiata and dalandan shake for me please :)
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aPost-dinner entertainment was provided by Alyannah.
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Thanks to my trusty tripod, kumpleto ang family pic namin.
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To Mama, tita Tess, Eric, Tata and Lani: see you all in October!

Best Week Ever!

We're back in Bangkok! It was a bumpy plane ride, but I'm glad we got back safely.

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Richard and I completed all the stuff that we had to work on and saw all the people that we wanted to spend time with. I was able to buy everything on my checklist and stuck to it (except for the nude flats that I bought at The Gap on sale. Heehee!). Everything was right on schedule, there were no delays and some were done faster than we expected.
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My checklist. All complete! Except for one thing...
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...Razon's halo-halo: watch out for me in December! Kahit malamig, babalikan talaga kita! Haha!
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More vacation kwentos on the next posts. I have already posted a few and there are more still to come. Meanwhile, I need to rest. Been sleepy since Sunday afternoon pa. I slept for most of the plane ride back to Bangkok. When we arrived home, I just changed into my pajamas, brushed my teeth, crawled into bed and woke up at 9:00 this morning. I somehow managed to stay awake to unpack our suitcases and prepare lunch for Aly. By mid-afternoon, I was back in bed and only woke up to my dear hubby's kisses. In a few minutes, I will be going back to sleep. Sigh...I hope to be more productive tomorrow.

New Look

I just noticed that my recent posts are all about food, food, food. Obviously, puro kain lang ang ginagawa namin in the last couple of days. But what's a vacation without food? Anyway, let's veer away from all those calories and talk about something else naman.
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Aly and I got a haircut! My hair was screaming for a haircut na talaga that's why it's on top of my to-do list while we're here. Mahal kasi magpagupit sa Bangkok! And the salon staff speak very little english. The first and last time Aly and I went out for a haircut was a near-disaster so I decided to just get it here.
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Anyway, without further ado, let me show you the photos.
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aWith bangs. Just the way she wants it. Richard and I love Aly's new look because we think she looks younger :)
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aFrom losyang to layered. I love it. And I think I look younger too! Haha!
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So there you have it, the new and improved Aly and Krisan :)
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We will now go back to regular programming -- meaning, expect more food-related posts! Heehee!

Jonas Pares and My First Time with Richard

Don't get the wrong idea; this is a wholesome kwento. Family blog ito so I will not post anything naughty or dirty.

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When Richard and I were running some errands in the city last Monday, he took me to one of his favorite restaurants. He used to go here with his barkada when he was in highschool.

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Jonas Pares somewhere in QC. Sorry, I don't remember the exact location, but it has to be somewhere near UST.
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aJonas Pares...
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...with almond gulaman. Sana sago't gulaman na lang.
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Richard's fave is the mami, we were super hungry when we arrived so we ordered pares. This was my first time to eat pares (aaahh, kaya pala ganun yung title!). Pares pala is beef stew with fried rice.
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The food was ok. Don't expect any food reviews here because I'm still a pares newbie :) Besides, I'm just happy that my husband shared something from his childhood with me.
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Btw, I used my old Motorola SLVR phone for the photos. It's old and seldom used but I'm proud to say that it beat Richard's newer and more high-tech Nokia phone in taking photos. His camera won't work and we couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. My Motorola saved the day. Just one click and voila! Photos for my blog.

Sunday Pasyal

The whole family went to Sta. Rosa for an afternoon pasyal.
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Aly loved the fish in Nuvali. Ang dami!
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aNuvali is a nice place to chill with the family. I want to go back again so we can ride the water taxi naman.
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We had early dinner at Conti's.
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aMacaroni salad.
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aCheesy baked macaroni for Aly.
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aMick and his shrimp sandwich.
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aPancit palabok.
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aAnd of course, Mango Bravo for dessert.
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Aly loved the Mango Bravo and natuwa si lolo Bernie so bumalik kami sa Conti's on our way back to Tagaytay and he bought her a whole cake! Thank you, lolo!
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I am loving every minute of our vacation! I love the food, the pasyal...and what makes our stay really special is being with our family again. It's more fun to eat when you're with the people that you miss the most :)

Inihaw na Baboy

Remember when I craved for inihaw na baboy?
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This is what we had for lunch last Sunday.
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aThe real deal. Pork liempo seasoned with salt and cooked over hot coals. Served with vinegar and steamed rice. It was the best lunch ever!
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aThank you ate Gelyn!

Kainez

Our flight is delayed; an hour (at most, I hope!). Kung kelan naman kating-kati na kaming umuwi, naudlot pa.
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Mom told us this morning that she will prepare sinigang na baka tonight and inihaw na baboy tomorrow. Yummmmyyy!! Pwede bang umuwi na kami, like now na?
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We've been in the airport for almost three hours now.
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aButi na lang there's free wifi here and it's faster than our crappy connection at Oakwood.

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Today is our netbook's maiden voyage. And we're loving it! It's so light and portable. Makes our camera weigh like a ton compared to this baby. For the first time, hindi kami masyadong harassed bumyahe with all our stuff.
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aSpeaking of stuff, I was too lazy to pack so I only did it last night. Ayhayret because I really don't know how to pack light. Choosing only a couple of essentials to bring is like choosing only one or two kinds of dessert and sticking with it forever. I can't do that!
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Anyway, the gate is open. Finally! Manila, here we come!

More About Comart X Gen Fair

Comart X Gen Fair is a shopping mecca for any gadget freak. Imagine an entire building (in this case, the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center), filled with computers, laptops, printers, cameras, lcd tvs, and other tech-related accessories all at rock-bottom prices! I'm not a techie myself but whenever and wherever there's a sale, I am so there!

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There are probably a hundred sellers offering the same product. The prices are pretty much the same, but you still need to ask around for the best bargain that you can find, i.e freebies. Lenovo sellers, for example, gave away the same freebies: laptop bag, mouse, cleaning kit, but of all the booths that we asked, only Banana IT's package came with a free Kaspersky antivirus and VAT refund. For Richard, the anti-virus is very important so he bought his netbook from them.

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Apart from Richard's netbook, I also took full advantage of the promos and got something for myself as well.
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A new and bigger camera bag + a tripod -- finally!
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Why do I need a bigger camera bag? Because since I replaced my kit lens with my new (and bigger!) Sigma lens, my old bag is now too small for my camera and I can no longer put the extra batt and flash card in it as well. My new backpack has a perfect fit and it has more space for the charger, manual + a few personal stuff, which is really great for travelling because it eliminates the need for several bags.
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Hindi na ako magmumukhang christmas tree because now I can just bring one bag. Heehee!
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My camera is now heavier with my Sigma lens and I love that the tripod makes it easier for me to take photos. And the best part:
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Makakasama na ako sa kodakan. Haha!

Richard's Birthday Gift

At long last, our gift hunt is finally ovah! :)
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We went to the Comart X Gen fair this weekend and this is what we picked up.
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Lenovo Ideapad.
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aRichard chose gray.
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aA spanking new netbook for my dear hubby :)
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Sa wakas, we don't have to take turns in using our old laptop anymore. That means, Richard can play Mafia Wars longer and I can also drool over the massive designer bag collections at The Purse Forum with no interruptions. Oh yeah, and Aly too. Kaagaw na rin pala namin sya sa pag-gamit ng computer. Haha!

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aEnjoy your new toy, sweetie :)

Brownies

Aly's class went on a field trip last Thursday. They had a picnic at Lumpini Park.
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The kids were told to bring a snack that they can share with their classmates so Aly asked me to bake brownies. To be honest, I wasn't really in the mood to bake because I was tired from doing other household chores, so I asked Aly if we can just buy cookies from 7-11. Ayaw nya! She only wants to bring brownies daw. Heehee! Secretly, I was very happy that my daughter is proud of my baked goodies :)
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Brownies made with love.
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aI added candy sprinkles on top to make it more appealing to the kids.
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aI saved the chewy, crusty edges for myself. Haha!
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Here's the funny ending to my brownie love story: Just to make sure that all my baking effort won't go to waste, I had to make sure that we won't forget the brownies at home when Aly goes to school the next day. So I packed the brownies in a nice container and placed them in the ref. I placed them on top of the coffee canister so Richard will remember the take them out when he brews coffee for breakfast. Then, before leaving for school, I placed it inside Aly's bag.
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When I picked her up in the afternoon, I was looking forward to her kwento about the picnic, the park, how her classmates liked the brownie, etc. So I asked her...and you know what my dear daughter told me? She said she left her bag in the classroom. Huhu! But she immediately followed it up with: "mommy, don't be angry, ok?" Aawww...I said ofcourse I wasn't angry; she can just bring the brownies again and share it with her classmates tomorrow. But she didn't want to bring them anymore kasi wala na daw field trip. Heehee! Mga bata nga naman. Oh well...at least I know that my daughter's proud of my baking skills. And that's all that matters :)

Ugh!

After my tonsillectomy, I thought I said goodbye to all throat-related illnesses. But I was dead wrong. I had a sore throat a couple of weeks back and this is what my doctor prescribed.
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Gigantic antibiotics called Augmentin -- more like UGH-mentin to me!
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Of all the antibiotics out there, my doctor had to give me the biggest one on the planet. Hehe!
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Here's ugh-mentin compared to my other meds.
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aIf only it were as yummy as m&m's, I wouldn't mind eating a whole bag.
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I hope someone will invent chocolate-covered pills. I mean, being sick is very uncomfortable as it is, and it just gets worse when you have to drink icky medicine. Plus, they already have fruit-flavored paracetamol for kids, right? Hehe! Just a thought...