An 18th Birthday Celebration at Rockstar KTV

Aya, the eldest daughter of one of my dearest friends from high school, just turned 18. In the Philippines, many women celebrate their 18th birthday with a debut, which is often a somewhat formal or semi-formal party where people dress up and the debutante wears a formal or fancy gown. However, Aya decided to celebrate in a different way, by holding a party at Rockstar KTV in Greenhills Mall.

It's actually not surprising that this was how she chose to celebrate, given that she is into performance arts. She has a beautiful voice and that she loves to sing and we have in fact had quite a few karaoke nights together. It was also during this party that I discovered she can also dance. To open the party, she danced to K-Pop music together with a couple of her friends who I believe are members of a street dance crew. Awesome!

The night was obviously filled with a lot of music and singing. But an interesting highlight was the 18 shots segment of the program, in lieu of the more traditional 18 roses. 18 people were asked to do two things. First, all 18 people were asked to say three words to Aya that should encompass what they wish for her. Once everyone done was sharing their three words, all 18 people would take a shot together with her. I say that this was an interesting highlight because I was asked to join the 18 people, I guess as a representative of the old generation haha. My three words to Aya were: Achieve your dreams. And I really hope she does.

Happy 18th birthday Aya!

Nautica Sale

I found myself at Shangri-La Plaza one evening to do some errands when I happened to pass by a Nautica shop. I think it might actually have just opened. Nautica is on the expensive side but it's always been my favorite brand because the clothes fit me quite well, the fabrics are good quality, and I love the style and colors of this brand. As I passed by this shop, I also noticed a sign that said all items were on sale: 20% off for 1 item purchased, 30% for 2 items, and 50% for 3 or more items! Whoa. This just made everything significantly more affordable, especially if you buy three or more items.

I ended up getting three shirts, although the third one, I planned to give as a gift. As I made my purchase, I asked the salespeople there when the sale would end. They told me it would run for a while. So when my nephew told me that he needed new pants because he had gotten bigger from working out and his current pants no longer fit very well, I thought that maybe it would be a good idea to take him to Nautica. I ended up getting my nephew a few pairs of pants. I also got a new pair of jeans for myself. We also got a black Nautica t-shirt for my other nephew although he is very picky when it comes to clothes and he didn't particularly like the shirt we got him. So in the end, that black t-shirt went to me haha.

Family Day at Manila Pen

I had an amazing day with my family at the Peninsula Manila. My Manila Pen membership was about to expire and I still had a couple of vouchers left that I hadn't used. The membership package was also changing, with a higher cost and fewer benefits that are a bit more difficult to make use of and I wasn't sure if I still wanted to renew so I decided to make use of the vouchers I still had.

Peninsula Manila

We started the day by having lunch at Old Manila. I had taken my family here a couple of times before and we had always enjoyed the food, the ambiance, and the service. My voucher provided 50% off here for a three-course meal for 4 people. I unfortunately forgot yet again to take a photo of the menu so I am not sure exactly what we ordered, but I know that we each had two options for an appetizer (I got the crab bisque)...

Crab bisque at Old Manila

...and main course (I got the beef).

Beef main course at Old Manila

We all had the same dessert, which not only tasted great but also looked great. I have to say, the presentation at Old Manila is always topnotch, making our dining experience even more enjoyable.

Our fantastic dessert

Included in our three course meal were a couple of amuse-bouches...

Amuse-bouche to start our meal

Another amuse-bouche

...and some petit fours served after our meal.

Petit fours

After our lunch at Old Manila, my plan was to also make use of my voucher for afternoon tea as well as my remaining P1000 voucher. However, as we were all still full, we first headed head to Landers in BGC because my mom needed to buy some stuff there (there are several items that are available here that aren't readily available in many other places). The good thing about our supermarket run is that we also got to do some walking, helping us burn off some of the food we had just ate. Once we were done, we headed back to Manila Pen for afternoon tea.

Afternoon tea at the Manila Pen Lobby

The afternoon tea is served at The Lobby which tends to be full on weekends. Thankfully, we managed to get a table when we arrived. There were actually four of us who would share that afternoon tea which is traditionally meant for two people which is why it only comes with two beverages - we got coffee - but I've had this set before and I know that 3 to 4 people can actually share it. Since I also still had my P1000 voucher, I also ordered two more coffees and an apple pie cheesecake. This dessert is not that big and it is quite expensive but I gotta say, it is absolutely delicious!

Apple Pie Cheescake at the Manila Pen Lobby

I'm really happy that my family and I got to enjoy lots of fantastic food together at a fantastic location. I'm also very grateful that my family and I continue to have these amazing moments and shared experiences together.

Goodbye, Old Swiss Inn Makati

Old Swiss Inn in Makati has been one of my favorite restaurants in Metro Manila. It's on the pricey side but the food here is really good so I always felt it was good value for money. Before the pandemic, it was open 24/7 so sometimes, I would go there late at night after a very long day of work and reward myself with a great meal before heading home. So when I saw the news that Old Swiss Inn in Makati would be permanently closing on July 1, I made sure I visited one last time.

I went with a couple of my friends and because I was the resident expert, I ordered a couple of my favorite dishes: The Zuri (which used to be called Zurich Geschnetzeltes; I guess they changed the name because it may be a bit intimidating to read and pronounce) and the Peppersteak Swiss Inn, which is a pretty good steak especially for its price point. Of course, this being my final meal here, we also ordered the Walliser Fondue, which has fresh tomatoes and dippers of baby potatoes and assorted vegetables (along with some bread). (The Waatlander Fondue is actually one of their best-sellers but I thought it would be better for us to have baby potatoes that we could dip into the fondue instead of just bread.) We also ordered the Chicken Forrestiere, which I've had before and also enjoyed, so that we would have pork, beef, and chicken. As expected, it was a great meal.

It's quite sad that Old Swiss Inn in Makati will be closing. However, the good news is that they do have a branch in Paco, Manila. Actually, their original branch was in Paco before it closed in the 1980s due to a fire. It's new location will be at the Garden Plaza Hotel and Suites which is close to where it operated decades ago. I do find their Makati location to be a lot more accessible but at least, with the return of Old Swiss Inn to Paco, I will still have the option to enjoy their delicious food in the future.

Visiting an Old Favorite on Father's Day

To celebrate Father's Day, my family and I had lunch at The French Baker. We don't normally go out for Father's Day because of the huge crowds heading out that day, which means restaurants are full and parking is a challenge. But this year, we decided to go out just for a bit of a change-up. I thought that we could eat at The French Baker because it doesn't usually get full, even on weekends. We still arrived early so that we would have a better chance of getting seats. When we got there, we managed to get a table for everyone in my family. Shortly after we got settled, the rest of the tables became occupied so I'm quite happy we arrived when we did.

The French Baker was established in the Philippines in 1989. It's very first location was in SM City North Edsa, which I was very familiar with because my friends and I would sometimes eat there when we would go to the mall. Some of my family had never eaten here before so this lunch was a first for them. Once we were done with our main courses, some of us ordered their delicious pastries for dessert. They also had a Father's Day Promo and since we met the minimum spend requirement for it, my brother got a Chocolate Overload Sundae for free. Cool!

The French Baker was a bit of a staple for me as a student. I didn't have a lot of money back then so whenever I wanted to treat myself during trips to SM City, I would eat here and I would order either their Fetuccine Ala Carbonara or their Chicken Ala King. I love that after 37 years, The French Baker is still around, making delicious food and pastries. And I love that my family and I got to enjoy their food together on Father's Day.

Catch it if you can! at Rift

Recently, I discovered that my cousin is a co-founder of a relatively new art gallery called Rift which is located in Quezon City. They've had a few exhibits already and her mom - my aunt - invited me to visit but I hadn't been able to get around to it. Then even more recently, Yeye Calderon, who is one of the artists I follow and whose art I had purchased in the past, shared on his social media account that a couple of his paintings will be included in an exhibit called Catch it if you can at Rift. When I saw this, I messaged my cousin to ask about it and she said that this show was indeed at her gallery. She invited me to the artist's reception and I thought it would be cool for me to go. Not only would I get to finally support my cousin but I would also get to see and appreciate more art, including those created by Mr. Calderon.

Catch it if you can!

The exhibit showcased a great mix of paintings of different styles and media and sculptures made of different materials. Most of the artists whose works were on display were present that evening and it was really interesting to hear them talk about their art to guests at the exhibit.

Unfortunately, Yeye Calderon could not make it that evening but I did get to see his two paintings on display and they were indeed very beautiful.

Yeye Calderon's paintings on exhibit at Rift

One of the most popular artists there was Yul Servo, an actor who has appeared in many movies and TV shows and who has also been Vice Mayor of Manila. His two pieces were created using automotive paint on stainless steel and brass.

Artworks by Yul Servo

I'm happy I was able to attend this event. It was cool getting to see art pieces from many different artists with very unique and even thought-provoking styles and points of view. It's also great that I finally got to visit my cousin's gallery and show her some support.

 

My Decluttering Journey Part 5

I finally started something that I had been planning to do for years: build scrapbooks of memorabilia that I kept all these years. As a pack-rat and sentimental fool, I've stashed a lot of travel mementos such as entrance tickets to museums and other attractions I've visited, boarding passes, and brochures of tours I took. I also kept lots of tickets to shows I watched, such as concerts, musicals, and ballets. These were all stored in boxes that I never really opened but I never threw them out because I always felt that it would be nice to look at them once in a while and go on a wonderfully nostalgic trip down memory lane. So when I started my decluttering journey this year, I made it my mission to finally start building my scrapbooks.

One of the scrapbooks I got from Amazon looked like the Adventure Book in the Pixar film Up, which is one of my favorite movies of all time. In that film, Carl and Ellie originally wanted to go to Paradise Falls in South America but they never got around to it and Ellie unfortunately passed away before they could. Instead, Carl and Russell end up on a wild adventure in South America when Carl attempts to fly his house to Paradise Falls using balloons and Russell inadvertently joins him. So I thought that it would be nice to fill with this scrapbook with memorabilia from the South America trip I took with my mom in 2018.

My glue tape has indeed proven to be very, very handy. It made me think, maybe the reason why I stalled on scrapbooking all these years is that I was originally thinking of using normal glue which would have been messier and which would have required me to wait for the glue to dry. The glue tape has addressed these problems and made scrapbooking so much easier. Cool!

The big question now is whether I did this right. I actually stuck scraps on both sides of each page. My books don't have any separators between pages to protect the stuff I put on them so I'm thinking now that maybe I should have just stuck my memorabilia on the front of each page. I guess I will find out soon if this move is an acceptable one or if it is a disaster haha. I still have two more scrapbooks at home and lots more stuff to stick on them so at least I can learn from this first one and make any adjustments if needed. I'm also guessing that once I've filled my three books, I will need more.