Disappearing act

My normally crazy schedule has just gotten that much more hectic recently, with so much stuff going on at work. As such, I haven't really been able to post much in my blog in the last few weeks. Despite the crazy schedule, however, I am happy that I have still managed to spend a lot of time with my family and friends.

Apparently, the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Makati is closing soon - in September I think - so my family decided to have lunch in Tin Hau a few Saturdays ago. We had lunch in Tin Hau last year to celebrate my grandmother's birthday and everyone loved the food, especially the Peking Duck two ways. We actually over-ordered, as usual, but that was fine since we just took home the rest of the food. I somehow find it sad that Mandarin is closing soon. It's been a fixture in Makati for as long as I can remember so it will kind of feel strange not to see it anymore.

I also had dinner recently at NBA Cafe in SM Aura with my college friends recently. Our friend Jed was in town and wanted to meet up. I have to say that my experience wasn't all that great. The layout of the place is a bit strange and we ended up being seated in sort of like the hallway section between two larger sections of the restaurant which meant that it was really difficult to get the attention of the waiters. That we were behind a large pillar didn't help. The food was good but a tad overpriced and the expensive softdrinks didn't have free refills. While we enjoyed the company amidst the not-so-great dining experience, we all found it incredibly rude when they turned the lights off in our section! Can you believe that? I'm guessing it was because the restaurant was already closed but if that was the case, they should have just informed us that they were closed already. Ugh. Given my not-so-great experience here, I doubt if I will visit again. I will say though that the decor is actually quite good, especially if you are an NBA fan. Particulary eye-catching is this wall of NBA team jerseys:

I also had dinner recently with my friends Zaza and Doms, both of whom I worked with very closely in our Corporate Social Responsibility organization at work. We had dinner in Saboten before going to Cold Stone for dessert. As if that wasn't enough, we headed to Chelsea for some coffee before calling it a night.

Seems like BGC is a popular place for me and my friends to meet up because my friend Me-Ann organized her despedida in Melo's in Burgos Circle (she was heading abroad for a long-term international assignment). It was my first time to eat here and I realized that the food here is extremely expensive (the cheapest item in the main course item was already more than P800 if I recall correctly).

As if that wasn't enough time spent in BGC, I went there one more time to attend the first birthday of the son of my friends Kog and Ina. The party was held in Active Fun. They live in Singapore but they decided to come to Manila so they could celebrate this big milestone with their family without their family having to all fly to Singapore.

Of course, it hasn't been all about Taguig. :) When my friend Anna was in town, she wanted the gang to meet up in the QC area. I suggested UP Town Center since I had been there only once before and there were a lot of dining options there. We had dinner in Kos Greek Ouzeri before having dessert and coffee in Dulcelin.

Just weeks after I saw Eliza and Marie for the first time in a while, we met up again. Still in the Ortigas area but this time in Brotzeit in Shangri-La Mall. Eliza had some really interesting stories she wanted to update us with since our very interesting discussions just weeks before. :) The food here is expensive but pretty good. We all ordered different sausages that were partnered with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut and we shared the dessert sampler.

Finally and most recently, I met up with my friends Jane, Sabrina and David in Rockwell to have dinner at Celadon. Sabrina suggested this Thai restaurant and since I had never eaten there, I thought it would be good to try it. The food was good although I think the Tom Yum Kung was a bit thin (although I am guessing it way have been watered down a bit because we asked for it to just be mildly spicy; my companions weren't too keen on very spicy food.) Eating here made me remember Sukho Thai, probably the first Thai restaurant I ever tried in my life. Too bad this resto has since closed down.

While work has been very heavy recently, I am planning to take some time off soon. Hopefully I can get to recharge and spend even more time with family and friends then.