Giving children the gift of hope this Chritmas through UNICEF

I recently shopped for some UNICEF items online.

It's the first time I ever bought stuff from UNICEF, or the United Nations Children's Fund, even if I had been getting ads and brochures from them over the years. There were several factors that made me finally decide to buy some stuff in support of this global agency that works to provide aid to children in need worldwide. First, the ads that popped up in my feed were not for cards but for tote bags that looked really awesome. The bags made me click the link and it sparked my interest. (Link: https://donate.unicef.ph/shop/)

Second, the art designs on their items were created by artists from Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan. A very good friend of mine is part of that org so I thought it would be great to support them.

Finally, I felt it was long overdue or me to support UNICEF as they continue to help children all over the world. Wars have continued to rage and whenever I see children who suffer greatly from these wars, it breaks my heart.

I decided to get three tote bags to give as gifts this Christmas to my mom and to two of my friends. I actually asked each of them which bag design they wanted to make sure they got something they would really like. I also decided to get both sets of their Hiraya cards. One set has Christmas-themed cards and the other set has cards for all occasions.

I am really happy with my purchase. The tote bags are expensive but the quality is great, as is the art. And it's for a great cause.

Sicilian Roast at Santolan Town Plaza

 My friends and I got to try a new restaurant. We were planning to get together for my birthday and I suggested that we have lunch at Sicilian Roast Italian Kitchen and Bar in Santolan Town Plaza. I had seen this place in previous visits to this area and I had been interested in it ever since. None of us in our group had eaten there before so we all thought it would be worth a try. Also, it was located sort of in the middle of everyone in our group, with some folks coming from the north and some from the south, so it would be a bit more convenient for everyone.

Silician Roast Italian Kitchen and Bar in Santolan Town Plaza

I'm really happy that we picked this place because I love their food! We selected several items on their menu that we shared. Their Calamari Fritto was good...

Calamari Fritto

... as was their Burrata Alla Caprese salad.

Burrata Alla Caprese salad

I love Eggplant Parmigiana so when I saw it on their menu, I decided to order it as well.

Eggplant Parmigiana

Naturally, we got a few pasta dishes, including Vongole...

Vongole

...and the Linguine alla Bosciala al Tartufo, which has mushrooms and peas in cream sauce and Truffle Paste. I love truffle pasta in general and this was no exception.

Linguine alla Bosciala al Tartufo

The star of our meal was the steak. We ordered the Tomahawk since there were a lot of us and the portion size of this steak could be shared by a group and it was really good! It did take a long while to prepare it though because they had to thaw it. But when it finally arrived, it was worth the wait.

Tomahawk steak

Aside from the great food, I also love many other elements of the restaurant. First, they had some great art hanging from the walls. In fact, there was a painting by National Artist Abdulmari Asia Imao on the wall right behind us. I just had to take a photo.

Painting by National Artist Abdulmari Asia Imao on display

Then, the  restroom. It was clean and I love the green tiles that went up only half way up the wall.

The restroom is clean and very tastefully designed

And just to make things in the toilet just a bit more quirky and fun, there was a rotary phone on display at the far corner. Why it was there, I have no idea. But it looked cool!

A rotary phone used as decoration in the restroom

I also love the fact that because we were celebrating my birthday, they placed a "Happy Birthday" sign on our table (they knew this because they asked me when I was reserving a table if we were celebrating any special occasion).

They gave us a slice of tiramisu. Cool!

Our dining experience at Sicilian Roast was really good, with delightful service and great food. It's on the expensive side but it's a superb choice f you are celebrating a special occasion or just want to splurge a bit. I would definitely love to dine here again.

Sicilian Roast
https://www.sicilianroast.com/
Address: Santolan Town Plaza, San Juan City, 1500 Metro Manila
Phone: +63 966 853 3483

New Maintenance Meds

You know you're getting older when you start taking maintenance meds.

I've actually been on maintenance for a while already. After my health scare several years back, my doctor prescribed medicine that I need to take daily. However, in the last couple of years, my blood and lab tests haven't been ideal, and this year, they have been the worst that they've been in maybe a decade. So after my regular check-up with my doctor this year, he asked me if I finally wanted him to prescribe me more meds.

I had actually been pushing back against taking more meds because I felt like I could live healthier and get better results. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case the last few years. Plus, I am getting older. As such, I finally agreed that it would be a safer and healthier approach for me to take one extra medicine on top of the one I'm already taking. So now I have two maintenance meds.

That said, my doctor did prescribe the lowest dosage and he told me to take it just three times a week. He also prescribed vitamins that I should take regularly. He strongly recommended that I exercise more and eat healthier. As I mentioned in my previous post, my stress level this year has really gone up. It doesn't help that as a sweet tooth, I really do default to eating ice cream, cakes, and pastries when I am need of a dopamine hit. What I really need to do instead is hit the gym more regularly. Hopefully I can do that soon.

Staycation at New World Makati Hotel

My stress level recently has been quite high so I felt it was time to have another staycation this year. I decided to book a room in New World Makati Hotel because it had been such a long time since I last stayed here and I like New World.

Lobby of the New World Makati Hotel

As is true with many of the good hotels in Makati, the room is quite spacious and comfortable. I believe I got a superior room and I selected one with a big bed (although I believe you can choose one with two smaller beds). My room also had a small couch in the corner, providing extra seating.

The bathroom is good too, with a separate shower and bathtub area which I think is better. 

Shower and toilet

Taking a shower in a bathtub always feels a bit - a lot? - dangerous because it can get slippery and the base is not flat, making it harder to maintain balance while you are standing in it.

Bathtub and sink

Since Christmas is around the corner, the lobby was very festively decorated.

Christmas decor at the lobby

Aside from the very tall Christmas tree at the center of the lobby, there was also a quaint gingerbread house at the elevator area.

Gingerbread house decor at the lobby

The lighting outside the hotel was also pretty awesome. I got to appreciate it as I headed to Greenbelt for dinner.

My stress level at work has been noticeably higher in 2026, which has led me to take two staycations in the same year and in two different hotels. It's a bit of an expensive way to unwind and recharge but I do like staying at really good hotel rooms and it allowed me to destress so I feel it was money well spent.

New World Makati Hotel
https://manila.newworldhotels.com/
Address: Esperanza Street, corner Makati Ave, Ayala Center, Makati City, 1228 Metro Manila
Phone: (02) 8811 6888

Dohtonbori Japanese Restaurant

I got to try Dohtbonbori for the first time by chance. I was looking for a place to eat at SM Megamall and while I normally have my usual places to eat in the area, a sign outside Dohtonbori caught my attention. They were serving ramen set combo meals that looked really appetizing. I decided to try it.

Dohtonbori in SM Megamall

Thankfully I did because I was very happy with their food! I ordered a don-ramen set that included ramen (I can't recall if I had tonkotsu or shoyu) and donburi that cost "only" P425. That's really good value! My set had a lot of food, which meant I was fully satisfied after my meal. And it was all quite delicious!

Don-Ramen set with ramen and donburi

I enjoyed my first meal here so much that I decided to eat here again shortly after my first visit. I've always been a fan of sukiyaki so on this second dining experience at Dohtbonbori, I ordered Nabemono, which is their version of sukiyaki. Normally, this dish is served exclusively with glass noodles but the Dohtonbori version has udon mixed in with it.

Nabemono, Dohtonbori's version of sukiyaki

I had now eaten at Dohtonbori twice but I still hadn't tried their signature dish: the okonomiyaki so I decided to to go a third time to have it. There are a lot of different okonomiyaki options on the menu but I found myself gravitating towards the Hamburg Cheese Steak okonomiyaki, which is a pork hamburger steak okonomiyaki with cheese sauce generously poured over it. I also had a size of gyoza. I absolutely loved this dish!

Hamburg Cheese Steak Okonomiyaki and Gyoza

A few more things about Dohtobori. I really like the decor, at least in their SM Megamall branch. I was tempted to have my photo taken with the Demon Slayer standees on display there but I somehow decided not to because a lot of people were eating and the waiters were all busy. 

Demon Slayer standee on display

There is also a section where guests can take their shoes off and sit down on the floor while enjoying their meal sort of Japanese-style.

I can't believe I had been sleeping on this restaurant all these years. Thankfully, I discovered it - better late than never! - and now I can keep enjoying Dohtonbori.

Dohtonbori
https://dohtonbori.com/shop/oversea/philippines 

[Throwback] Federico Aguilar Alcuaz Tapestries at the Peninsula Manila

I had dinner with some friends one evening at Manila Peninsula and while I was there, I saw that there was a temporary exhibit of artworks from Federico Aguilar Alcuaz at the lobby. His art was printed on large tapestries that were on display at the reception area. I decided to take a look. There were three tapestries on display: Filipiny Abstract 124,

Filipiny Abstract 124 by Alcuaz

Spring VIII (Abstract #84),

Spring VIII (Abstract #84)

and Spring XII (Abstract #123).

There was also a large write-up right inside the entrance of Manila Pen. I discovered that Alcuaz is a national artist for visual arts. Also, the three pieces on display are apparently never-before seen Art Protis tapestries. (Art Protis is apparently a Czech textile art technique that Alcuaz adapted for his art works. Cool!

The exhibit ran from September 1 to 30 so I was quite lucky to see it.

My Pico De Loro Trip Mishaps

The wedding of my friend at Michelle at Pico de Loro was a truly beautiful and blessed event and I was very happy and honored to be there. That said, my experience heading to and staying at Pico de Loro was a series of unfortunate events. First, I badly miscalculated the time it would take to drive to Pico de Loro. I wanted to have an idea how long it would take to get to Pico de Loro so about a week before the wedding, also on Saturday morning, I checked Waze. It said that the drive would be about 2 hours so I flippantly assumed it as correct and planned my departure time from Manila based on a two hour drive time. As it turned out, the drive was more like 2 1/2 hours. So my estimate was now off by 30 minutes. But ok, I was still leaving Metro Manila early enough so I should have been able to still make it in time.

The second major mistake was that for some reason, I stupidly thought the path to Pico de Loro was through SLEX. I had Waze on while driving but I almost automatically went into SLEX from Edsa. Immediately, Waze told me that I had to turn. I figured that at some point, Waze would change its recommended route into an SLEX-based one but even when I got to Bicutan, I was still being told to turn back. Damn! I eventually turned in Sucat but even there, I got caught in some traffic. By now, I must have lost about an hour. According to Waze, I was now expected to arrive right before the wedding would start at 3pm. I still wasn't dressed but I figured, I would just arrive at Pico Sands Hotel, change, then drive to the chapel and be maybe about 15 minutes late. Not the best situation, but still somewhat acceptable.

When I got to Pico de Loro, I got badly confused yet again. There were no big signs that indicated where Pico Sands Hotel was. Waze told me I had arrived but I couldn't easily see where it was so I kept going. After maybe 500 meters of driving, I stopped to ask for directions and was told that I had passed it. Ugh! As if that wasn't enough, the road in Pico de Loro is one way. That meant I couldn't drive back and I had to go all the way around the resort.

When I finally got to Pico Sands Hotel, parking was full. Someone there told that I should park at the country club. I was also told that there is a shuttle that could bring me from the Beach Club to Pico Sands. I drove around again and ended up at the Beach Club instead where I was told I couldn't park. I headed back to Pico Sands again and they explained where the country club was, which was a few buildings down the road.

By now it was already past 3pm and I had just parked. But since I didn't understand the shuttle set-up nor how frequently the shuttles came, plus the fact that taking a shuttle would bring me all around the Pico grounds again, I decided to just walk back to Pico Sands. To add insult to injury, I had to walk with all my stuff. It didn't help that it was hot and humid that afternoon (at least it wasn't raining) so when I finally got into my room, I was drenched in sweat. I decided to take a shower first before heading to the chapel.

By now, it was already past 330 and the church ceremony started on time so I was already very late but I still wanted to make it. However, it turns out that the Pico de Loro shuttles wouldn't actually take me directly to the chapel. They could take me to a spot that would require a 300m uphill walk. That would leave me very sweaty again. Plus, if i still went and then had to walk, I would probably arrive at the tail-end of the ceremony and miss everything. At that point, I decided not to go to the church ceremony anymore and just join the reception. I was gutted that I missed it!

Thankfully, the rest of the afternoon and evening was amazing!

But just as I was about to check out the next day, one more unfortunate incident happened. While my room was good, I wasn't particularly happy with the hand soap. It as exceedingly slippery and it wouldn't easily come off, even after I washed my hands very thoroughly. (I shared this story with someone else who agreed with my issue with the hand soap.)

Now that alone wasn't a problem. It became an issue after I had breakfast and before heading out. After washing my hands with the very slippery hand soap, I brushed my teeth. As I was putting the glass down after gargling with water, the glass just slipped right through my hands and broke. Ugh.

Some places such as restaurants don't usually charge you anymore if you break a glass; the service charge usually covers it. However, in this case, I got charged I think P250 for the broken glass. Oh well.

I'm still really sad that I missed the church ceremony. Also, I did not exactly have the best experience at Pico de Loro and I'm not a fan of that one way road and the lack of parking. It is a beautiful resort complex but it felt like such a hassle to go there. Would I ever go again? Maybe if there was another wedding. But if it was for my personal vacation, I'd probably pick some place else. (Then again, who knows? Maybe in a subsequent visit, knowing how the resort works now, I won't have such a bad experience.) Thankfully, the highlight of that weekend and the purpose of me going to Pico was Michelle and Darth's wedding which was truly wonderful.