Eating our Hearts out at Kamayan

I previously wrote here that I have 2 engagements on September 4: a spa session and a date with my Jhay for our 63rd month. A few days earlier, he told me that he’ll be taking charge of everything (because he seldom does that, he always lets me decide on things), and that all I have to do is do what he asks me to. So I was giddy.

The day came, and things went a little off-track because we spent almost three hours in The Spa instead of the planned 2 hours. And have I already mentioned that waiting isn’t one of Jhay’s specialties? This resulted to him giving me silent treatment the entire time we were in the cab. From Makati to Ortigas wasn’t so short a ride considering the heavy traffic in EDSA even if it’s a Saturday. But I’m lucky that my honey is easy to please. It was one of the things that I love about him: a little lambing goes a long way. So upon reaching Megamall, we were already hand-in-hand and loving each moment of the 4th of the month :D

Eventhough I already had a clue, I played innocent by asking him where we’ll eat. He won’t say it, he just tagged me along until we reached the 4th floor and that’s when my instinct was confirmed. We’re having an Eat-All-You-Can dinner at Kamayan! It’s nothing special for most but it is for us because it’s the first time that we’re pigging out together. Hahaha.

So without further ado, here’s our first round *in the background a bell is ringing like that in a boxing match*:

Her.

His.

My plate had Bagoong Rice, Fried Chicken, Dinuguan, Lechon Kawali, a seafood dish that I already forgot the name, and Fish Fillet that they have another name for. LOL.

His plate had almost the same thing except that he has Lumpiang Shanghai and Crispy Alimasag in addition.

I was starving so I quickly finished most of my food but I had to breathe in and out a few times before I could clear my plate of all the viands (ask my friends, they can attest that I can eat a lot of rice with only a small serving of viand). I especially loved the Lechon Kawali (artery-clogging, I know) and the Lumpiang Shanghai. The Fish Fillet and Crispy Alimasag is also a winner but their Dinuguan didn’t hit the mark. It was like that of a local eatery :-(

And then we chatted for a few minutes as we made way for the next round. I forgot to take a picture of Jhay’s 2nd plate but mine had this.

Pork Barbeque, Minatamis na Saging na Saba, Biko and Puto Bumbong

I am a sucker for barbeque so it was the round's runaway winner. Jhay took advantage of my BBQ fascination and the next thing I saw was a bite left of the Puto Bumbong and him trying to keep his laughter to himself. Hahaha.

 Jhay watching me and my big appetite.

 He took one shot after another trying to capture my takaw moments.

You think I'm done? Oh no, not yet! I went back to the buffet table for dessert!

In my plate are 2 small pieces of Bibingka, 2 slices of gelatin and the classic halo-halo. I loved the ube topping, although I would have loved it more if it has leche flan too!

After our palates are satisfied and our tummies full, he took the bill. We paid PhP 922 for the two buffet meals and two bottomless iced tea. Is it worth it? With an appetite like ours, it's a yes, yes, yes! *except for the iced tea, you're better off with water, believe me*

And please let me mention how I love my blouse that day for concealing the right areas. *wink wink*

After we've gotten enough rest, we looked for Etude House - a boutique that sells high-quality yet affordable Korean cosmetics. It is a kikay's haven so go check it out :-)

I asked honey to buy me a lipstick (I told you, he's easy to lambing ^_^) but I didn't find the shade that I want so I ended up buying this eye shadow instead.

 Petite Darling Eyes Eyeshadow for Php 148.

Thank you so much for the dinner and the little present, hon. Oh, one question: When are we doing this again??? :D

A Spa-bulous Saturday

Almost a week of popping online contacts messages telling them to vote for our entry to the Toblerone Epic Friend Promo was very much worth it as the Toblerone Piipinas team awarded us the gift packs and 2 PhP2000 The Spa Gift Cards last Saturday, September 4th. I and Ate Pants (my Epic Friend) went all the way to The Spa at Bonifacio Global City for the awarding ceremony along with the other winners. It was fun to meet the cool (and generous) people behind the contest especially the Brand Ambassador for Toblerone Pilipinas, Ian, who gave a very heart-warming opening speech in his slang Tag-lish :-)

The Spa @ Global City

With Ian of the Toblerone Team.

Our prizes.

5 pairs were chosen to read their winning piece to the group. Good thing Ate Pants and I were not picked because we are both very emotional we might be crying even before reaching halfway.

Us with the other Epic Friends Promo winners.

After the photo opps, we hurried to The Spa Bel-Air branch for our Refreshing Start session at 3:30pm (The Fort's fully-booked, that's why). 

 We chose Swedish body massage, Peppermint Foot Rub and

Aroma Scalp and Shoulder massage, all for Php 1950.

The Fort branch was modern and more of black and white while Bel-Air has an Oriental feel - very cozy and homey with stylish wooden pieces all over. We got there earlier than our appointment but when I asked if we can already be accommodated, they happily obliged :-) We presented our Gift Cards and were given the keys to our locker with corresponding numbers. Then they asked us to proceed to the 4th floor where the Female Spa is located. 

I just love the dainty little details :D

As soon as we stepped off the elevator, we were welcomed by the friendly crew as she handed us our spa kit.

Then we went to the locker room which is by the way very impressive in terms of aesthetics (Oh my, why did I forget to take a picture of that?!). We left our things, quickly changed into our robes then headed to the wet floor to take a shower before the pampering activities. We could have gone skinny dipping in the mini pool have we known early on that we could use all the wet floor amenities. Oh well, better luck next time, ladies. :P

 (L) The locker. (R) Ate Pants posing by the vanity counter.

Refreshed and ready, we were led to the lounge and were offered the complimentary ginger tea. I'm not very much into teas so I just sipped from Ate Pants' cup and it wasn't bad at all :-) We waited for like 10 minutes till our Peppermint Foot Rub therapists arrived. And then the blissful two-hour session started.

  

A year ago when Ate Pants treated me to a full-body massage at a spa near our place, she said "Aaahh... This is life..." but as we seated in the Foot Spa's uber comfy recliners while our feet were soaked in warm water, she can't help but exclaim, "This is heaven!"

In the middle of the foot treatment, 2 more therapists came in to do the Aroma Scalp and Shoulder massage simultaneously. And boy, the two treatments combined was divine!

After an hour of head and foot massage.

After the session, we were asked to go to the room where our Swedish massage will be done. We took a few photos again while waiting for the new set of therapists.

At 4:45pm, the full-body massage commenced. It was an hour packed with soothing kneads from head to toe, with the scent of eucalyptus in the room completing the relaxing experience. How I loved the moderate pressure done by my therapist! It was just how I wanted it as I don't like aching muscles afterwards.

Exactly an hour later, we're done. We took one last shot and promptly went off because other clients are having their session in the same room (Deluxe services are done in rooms with around 5 beds in them, but we had no issues on privacy naman)

Invigorated, we went back to the locker room. We posed by the mirrors for some more photos with our robes on.

We kept raving about the entire Spa Service as we changed into our clothes. Two thumbs up for The Spa Bel-Air. We got treatments fit for a queen, even just for a day :-) This is a pampering that we deserve, and at the same time a bonding moment that I and Ate Pants haven't done in years.

All dressed up and ready to go (hurry Em, Jhay is waiting for hours already!)

Ate Pants with another cup of ginger tea. Like it much, cuz? :)

By the wooden staircase.

So from the bottom of our hearts, a big thank you to Toblerone team! It was truly a Spa-bulous Saturday!

Two super satisfied customers of The Spa.

Wanna experience it too? Book your appointment here! :)

4Ts and an S

The past few days I’ve been staying late in the office. Workload’s kinda tough so I go home somewhere between 12MN and 3AM. I guess my body clock had adjusted pretty well so I’m still up and about at 1 in the morning. I really really wanted to rest but sleep just won’t come knocking at my door so I thought I might as well make the “puyat” worth it.

So here’s my agenda for the night… err, morning..

 
I wanted to share 4 things that I am thankful for today – 4 very little things that gave me a few seconds of happiness:

 
* I have finally added the LinkWithin gadget here. So what the hell is LinkWithin? It’s that portion at the bottom of my posts (come on, scroll down for a while) that links 3 related stories so that visitors can easily hop from one post to another. Really nice, isn’t it? Get yours here. :D

 
* Toblerone Pilipinas just sent a message saying that instead of the previously announced prize of Php 2000 worth of The Spa GCs which I and my Epic friend will share, they’re giving us PhP 2000 each to avail full pampering packages! Awesome!

 
* I had some quality time with my two darling babies, Kurt (my favorite inaanak who lives with us now) and Haley. It was super amusing to play with them and sing A-B-C and take pictures. Here are a few shots:

 

Please excuse my baby hair strands all around :P

 
And last but not the least…

 
* It’s Friday already! I don’t know if it’s because of the Monday holiday or I was just too busy that I hardly noticed the days pass. It’s weekend once again and this weekend is a really exciting one because it’s the awarding of the Toblerone Epic Friend Promo (that means chocolates and spa and girl bonding) and Jhay and I will be turning 63 months! He said he’s cooking up something special for our monthsary so I’m really looking forward to that.

 
Oh speaking of my Jhay, the S that I am talking about is a Sorry.

*mellow music in 3, 2, 1...*

Since I got home early today, Jhay and I intended to catch up on our how’s-your-day session and eat-at-the-same-time-even-if-we're-kilometers-apart habit every night. But my mood swings and short temper got the better of me. Yes, we fought. They say girls rarely admit it when they’re wrong but here I am saying it was my bad. And I’m sorry. So please honey, when you wake up, bati na tayo ha? :D

There you have it. It's 2AM in my clock and I was able to spend my one hour well. Now let's all have a great night and a beautiful Friday ahead :-)

Cheers,

On Strengths and Weaknesses

Just this morning I had one of the biggest surprises of my life. I wanted to share but I’m afraid it’s way too personal. But just to give you an idea on how serious it is, I have used all the swear words that I saved up for 5 years. Haha. But kidding aside, it was a family matter that I never thought I will ever have to go through. I trusted the person so much, and now all the trust and respect that I have for him has gone down the drain :(

It is in trying times like this that I’m most thankful I have an awesome set of friends and an equally wonderful boyfriend backing me up. The entire time that I was feeling lonely and crying and confused, they were there to remind me to be rational and keep me grounded. They helped me to weigh things and think of the best course of action. With them I was able to set cowardice aside. Using all the guts left within me, I faced the issue. Being able to confront the person involved was a liberating experience. That person may have given me BS answers but at the very least, I was able to let him know that I am not letting it pass. I’ll be keeping an eye on him… for my family’s sake.

*silence*
 

Okay, ‘nuff of the sad thoughts now. Let me share with you my lesson for the day:
 

When depressed, stay away from the mall, 

especially the one with very tempting sale items.

Uh-huh, I bought not one, not two, not even three but 6 blouses at Landmark Trinoma. I’ve been weak, I know, but you can’t blame me! How could I say no to the array of colorful plus-sized clothes? I tried really hard to resist but I seem to have used up all my strength in this morning’s confrontation. And hey, you still have to congratulate me because I only spent a total of Php 1551.25! 6 office tops for less than 2k is a great deal, right? :D
 

So before I go and try those new shirts on, since it’s also National Heroes’ Day, allow me to thank my Jhay and my girlfriends for being my own set of heroes! Much love! :-*

Customizations Ongoing

I am kinda playing around with my layout at the moment so please bear with me.

Thanks a lot! :-)

Oh yeah, I have a new signature too! *dance*

Hot and Cold

Right now I am enduring a freakin' hot afternoon here at home because I wanted to make up for all the going-online-for-no-reason-at-all time that I lost this week. It was busy as hell at work (busier than last week's busy LOL) that I didn't even have time to fool around in Facebook. Imagine I had to work from 1PM to 3AM of the next day because of the deadline. I know this is usual for most carer-oriented people but I seem to be pretty much affected because it was the first time that I experienced it. (Note to self: Start getting used to working overtime.)

Oh well, let me go back to my thing today. A few minutes ago I enjoyed a cup of dirty ice cream! Hahaha. FYI, the entire neighborhood has been a suki of that one sorbetero for ages so I guess it's not dirty after all. :-)

How I loved the classic keso and tsokolate combination!

Who said that a Starbucks mug is only for a hot cup of coffee? It's perfect for a cold treat too! :-)

Peach was happy to know that this (however a different color)

was among my birthday wishes. Apple green is second only to pink
as my favorite color so it's still awesome! :)

Before I forget, I took a picture of the cute apple green mug just because I wanted to thank the person who gave it to me. She said she wanted me to remember her by leaving me something that I'll always use. So here's to my sweet girl, Peaches. Thanks for sharing a beautiful conversation with me. The date that we had yesterday was short but very very sincere and soothing. I'm looking forward to having another coffee break with you really soon. I'll miss you, girlfriend! Bon voyage!

A warm and time-tested friendship is one of life's simplest pleasures.

Oh yes, the barista mistook Peach for Mitch. Hahaha.