Noel & Via

A long overdue continuation from a previous post

The mushroom bisque came with a sprinkle of green onions on top. It was similar to cream of mushroom soup, but heavier and heartier. Although the serving was small and priced at around P100, it was heavy enough to accompany our salad meal.

Then came the highlight of our lunch, the buttered scallops with chives. At first bite it actually tasted familiar. It was almost like how our scallops at home are made but without the shell and a little added flavor. The presentation was excellent. At this point we were already sold. The price of the dish was around P250.

Before the waiter served our main course, the owner stepped in with her sons. She warmly greeted us and told us that we were lucky to order the scallops as they had just come in fresh from the market. She offered us wine, and we gladly accepted. She brought us wine glasses filled with a pale brown liquid. I was surprised at first, I was expecting white wine, which would have been perfect for our scallops, but then she explained that it was Casis mixed with another liquor. It was a sweet dessert wine, I would've prefered white wine, but this was good nonetheless. Who can argue with free wine?

The waiter then served served our main course. I had a mixed green vegetable salad with red beets, feta cheese and pine nuts. I had been looking for this combination for a long time. This was my favorite salad to make while we were living in italy. They did give it justice. Via had a light salad as well and I was too engrosed with what I was eating that I forgot to take a sampling of hers. Each salad is priced at around P250 up.

With the dessert wine on hand, we didn't see the need to order anything after the salad. We were done and happy. Our bill came at around P1000++ for the 2 appetizers, 1 soup, 2 salads. A bit steep for our books, but very satisfying. We promised the owner that we would come back. I still have to taste their meat selection. :)

Posted by Noel at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't really agree with all of these choices, but some are pretty flattering. Heehee!
The best is Dakota Fanning!!!

Have fun with this! Who are your celeb look-alikes? :)

Posted by Via at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Noel and I hadn't indulged in this in a long while, mainly due to our hectic schedules of late- weekends included. So this holiday Monday, after all our errands (our front door lock decided to give way so we had to get a new one, plus we were scouting around for sash factories to have some tables made), we decided to reward ourselves. We saw My Super Ex-Girlfriend and The Devil Wears Prada.

The first movie was our warm-up, although not laugh-while-you're-crying kind of funny, Owen Wilson and Uma Thurman proved to be entertaining. But it was our second movie that I loved! (even the soundtrack sounds good and I may just get it on DVD hehehe) I wish it had been made during the time I was fresh out of college, being utterly clueless about where to get a job. Meryl Streep was fabulous as the boss-lady from hell! :) And I loved all of the clothes of Anne Hathaway. Ok, maybe not all, but there's something so delighting and frightening about the fashion industry. One thing's for sure, it's a lot more work than it looks. I think one will enjoy the way this movie was made and how it's really about your choices in life. Go see them both and see for yourself. To my favorite date, this was a lot of fun! We should do it again! :)

Posted by Via at 01:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Verdict: Highly Reccomended.

For lunch today we tried a newish resto located along Jupiter street, Makati City. They said that it has been open for only a month. I was craving for some Cafe Mediterranean but didn't want to head over to the mall. So we scouted around Jupiter St. and found this quaint looking place that said "Mediterranean Dining".. Perfect!

Via says that their space was where Treffpunkt Jedderman used to be. There is a sign at the door that says "European dining by young passionate chefs," hung beside a lanai for al fresco dining. Inside there are about 8 tables lined with lime green table cloth. We sat down and were served the menu.

The menu had a mix of appetizers like humus, along with other plates like shawarma, pasta, and steak. Their price range is on the pricey side with the salads and the shawarma costing in the high P200 range and main course meals at P300-P400 per plate. One of the most expensive dishes on the menu was the Bistecca in red wine sauce. I was tempted to order it but it was priced at P530.

Since we were after a light lunch (and light budget!), we opted for a appetizer-soup-salad lunch. After ordering we were served with a very good pesto dip with slices of french bread, compliments of the restaurant. At this point we were already sold. Next they served our order of oven hot pita bread with Hummus dip. This simple and straightforward dish had us on a good start. They then brought out my order of mushroom bisque.

.... to be continued.

Posted by Noel at 02:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

From Abelina:

1. Grab the nearest book.

Books abound in this yellow study of ours. I picked up "Live the Life You Love" (am a hoarder of career path changing books hahaha!)

2. Open the book to page 123.
Lesson Six: Resistance of What's Stopping You?

3. Find the fifth sentence.

It's stronger than you and all you culture's "can-do" messages combined.

4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.

That's because resistance is a primitive safety mechanism, like a big, muscular bodyguard pulling you back from what it perceives as danger. Every instinct you have pulls back from the unknown. It's a reaction handed down in your genetic structure by your Stone Age ancestors- and their ancestors before them.

5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

I just did! I do not cheat for these things. (I didn't cheat either!)

6. Tag three people.

Fran, Leah and Chris. You guys next! :)

Posted by Via at 08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with the amount of work to be done that I feel like I am doing nothing (or probably end up doing nothing.) A lot of events happend since our last post:

• Fired our help/labandera. This was stressful emotionally and physically. We are left with our cook who would rather not do the laundry or clean anything. :(
• Our cook got sick and we had to stay over my in-laws for almost a week. Our doggies too.
• A lot of meetings/seminars at work taking most of my days.
• I got caught in Makati for violating the "color coding scheme" which was lifted in the rest of the metro
• Add our regular dinners with Family (Belated Happy Birthday to Tita Lit)

More freelance projects are starting and this is good. But sometimes I do find myself just staring at my to do list. What is your strategy for time management?

Posted by Noel at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)