Food Trip: Roma Mia, Trattoria Gourmet, & Cibo

A few weeks ago, I met with different sets of friends for pre-Christmas dinners. We were anticipating that come December our schedules will be crazy, what with all the shopping and family gatherings to attend to. By coincidence, all restaurants we dined in served mainly italian food.

Roma Mia (November 18) - located at 3rd level The Podium. their fried mozarella sticks were good, hindi masyadong makapal yong breading kaya you can really taste the cheese. although I prefer marinara sauce as a dip, pero pwede na rin yong garlic mayo. i also enjoyed their bolognese spaghetti... yah i know very common na 'tong pasta na 'to pero masarap sya ha. we also feasted on bruschetta and all-meat pizza. given that it was our first time to eat here, i think we did well in choosing the food. best shared with Len and Chepay -- friends from college.

Trattoria Gourmet (November 19) - located at 5th level Shangri-la Plaza Mall. one of my favorite restaurants. they serve complimentary bread and spinach spread. we started with cold cuts which consisted of prosciutto and italian sausage, tasted authentic -- but the sausage were sooo thinly sliced... parang masyadong tinipid. the beef tenderloin was yummy as well, sarap ng mushroom sauce, served with penne pasta and steamed veggies. my all-time favorite pasta dish here is the pescatore or seafood pasta in marinara sauce -- no explanation needed. for dessert we had tiramisu and i ordered gourmet coffee to go with it... perfect pair! best shared with Roz -- best friend from high school.

Cibo (November 24) - located at 1st level R1 lifestyle Power Plant Mall (one of the many branches). i wanted to eat something light, no creams or cheese in it, so i ordered their netunno pasta (couldn't remember the exact name of the dish) -- seafood linguine in olive oil and pesto. i absolutely loved it! you should also try cibo's iced tea with mint syrup... very refreshing! best shared with engfriends egroup -- chemical engineering classmates.

Nagutom ako sa ginawa ko...

Weekend Wedding

T'was a wonderful wedding, yup the one I talked about in my first entry here. The weather was perfect... sun was up but weather was still cool... bride looked fabulous and so did her bridesmaids (syempre I was one of them eh)... food was divine... music at the reception was superb (Who Let the Dogs Out?!?!?)... but the most fun of it all was the drinking session with the rest of my cousins at the couple's penthouse at Hotel Elizabeth. Can't wait for November 5...

Senti Mode

Last week, Chat and I went to UP to endorse our yearbooks at the MBA office (yes finally our yearbooks are out). It occured to me that it has already been 3 years since we graduated, and it only seemed last year. I remember more of the fun we had than the hardwork. And as the title goes, I went on a senti mode and suddenly remembered...

• Case studies in the afternoon while feasting on manggang hilaw with bagoong & chili-salt or taho from Manong just outside the BA building or Mang Larry's famous isaw
• Coming in late for a morning class and we were the reporting group and the laptop was with me... to think I only live 10 mins away... sabog!
• My MMDA escapades with Ella and Roselle on our way to Manila for a research -- very interesting which you can read more in my yearbook write-up (thanks Ella!)
• Yosi breaks outside our classroom while waiting for the next class
• Sumptuous lunch at Beng's house in Fairview for her birthday... super dami ng food. If not for the class we had to attend to that afternoon, that could have easily turned into a drinking spree.
• Crispy pata at Jenny's place in Antipolo... promise iba talaga, parang crispy pata na lasang lechon (yummy!)
• Videoke at Liezl's house in Sanville, QC during her birthday... we went home at 4am... buti nalang malapit lang ang bahay ko. Halos nakanta yata namin lahat ng songs sa songbook. Yes kinareer ang magic sing!
• Christmas party held at my place and the "guest of honor" that night. Nope, it wasn't a he nor a she... but an "it". I'd love to post a photo here but blogger.com might kick me out (haha!). Di ba ni-raffle yon? Kanino na nga ba napunta???

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Oh well, those were the days. I wish the class can get together again kahit na busy na mga tao. Going back to our guiding principle (naks!)... Tama Na 'Yan Inuman Na!!!

Bohol Escapade

It was a fun trip I had with four college buddies when we explored Bohol last August 7-10. Yes, vacation on a weekday. Well, there's a logical explanation behind... CHEAP FARES! Thanks to Cebu Pacific's new marketing strategy, we were able to get roundtrip plane tickets to Tagbilaran for only P1,620! San ka pa? The resort we stayed at for three nights (Alona Kew White Beach) was not bad either. The room was spacious enough to accommodate the four of us and all our kikay stuff scattered all over the place -- the only catch: there's no television.

Being the resourceful girls that we are -- we found a way to satisfy our craving for entertainment and food at the same time. For three nights, we had dinner at a nearby resort that has television... we just had to make sure that we get there early para hindi kami maunahan ng mga half French-half Pinoy kids (they are the ones behind us in the dinner photo below) who were mga "kapuso" and wanted to watch Majika and Capt. Barbell. While us girls and the rest of the resort staff wanted to know how Dorina was kicking Lavinia's ass and vice versa... how Adrian and Jennifer were concealing their affair from Benicio... and most importantly how Albert Martinez is looking oh so yummy (rice please!).

But more than all these, we enjoyed the trip because of all the bloopers and the laughters -- this would be another entry altogether. Given that the weather was not very cooperative that time, we still had a blast just making fun of each other, oh I mean making fun of Chepay (hi girl!). Thanks Len for taking care of the resort and tour reservations... but next time be careful where you make your wish -- hindi sa pinto kahit very intricate pa ang carvings nito (with matching closed eyes ka pa ha!). Thanks Bambie for the laptop, we were able to go online, listen to songs, and watch movies... we'd like to hear more of your "encounters" (hello banker!). Thanks Cheps for the Boy Bawang which served as our merienda and midnight snacks during chikahan/tsismisan/girl talk time... pero hindi pa rin namin kinaya ang pagiging mahaba ng hair mo (may asim ka pa!) Next stop... Palawan??? Let's go gurls!!!

A Wedding That Will Reunite The Girls

For those of you who know me, you're probably reading this because of the title. Nope, I'm not getting married, not yet. I'm talking about my cousin Brenda's wedding to be held barely a month from now. What makes it extra special is that it will be a reunion for us five cousins. We haven't seen her for more than six years i think, because she migrated to the states. Memories of summer vacations in Baguio and Manila when we were still in grade school (geez that was a long time ago)... beach outings to La Union... roller skating at Camp John Hay... indulging on good food amidst the cool weather... ledge dancing... coney island ice cream... at ang pinakapanalo sa lahat... having our pictures taken, all 5 of us, inside a Foto Me booth!!! Now I wonder... pano tayo nagkasya lahat sa loob???