Christmas

© Joselito Briones

Having distributed all the gifts last night, we took it easy today. It was the exact opposite of the frantic house-to-house trek of the kids, collecting money from relatives and Ninangs.

We decided to treat my parents to lunch today. We went to Tony Roma's in Alabang Town Center with Kuya Toto, and thankfully so. After several misses on restaurant choices, at least this one, albeit still formulaic chain restaurant fare, delivered the goods, at least with the baby back ribs. We ended up bringing back two extra racks, one for Kuya Toto and one for Ate Julie. My mom wanted to see if she can produce the same texture, if not the taste, so we passed by Makati Supermart to buy some frozen ribs, but the grocery was close today.


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P.S.
The image on top is actually a movie, a trial if it's worth putting flash movies here. It's probably too big a file if you're on a slow connection, but if you're using broadband, it should load smoothly.

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Tagaytay

© Joselito Briones

Less than an hour's drive from the house is this town called "Tagaytay", with a fantastic view of Taal volcano and the lake surrounding it.

My mom said she wanted to come here to try Josephine's, a traditional Filipino restaurant. So Josephine's we went, with Chris, Irma's eldest. The view from the deck is just awesome, and in itself worth the trip - and fortunately so, because this is all Josephine's has to offer. Although the receptionists were very courteous and friendly, the waiter assigned to us was downright rude. The food wasn't something to recommend to anybody else either. The only dish passable in quality among the ones we ordered is the char-grilled stuffed calamares. The sizzling gambas has this sickly red coloring that screams "artificial!". The "Kare Kare" was of unidentifiable slabs of beef fat and skin. The boneless "Inihaw na Bangus" was tough, and, in what ought to be classified as a crime, the "Kinilaw na Talaba" was a sheer waste of good oysters, which was indiscriminately drowned in nothing but vinegar.

Lesson learned: if you want to go to Tagaytay for the view, and your best option is Josephine's (I'm sure there are other places to see the spectacular view from), go straight to the coffee bar for a capuccino, then to the viewing deck. Skip the food.


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Free of Duty

© Joselito Briones

It’s sooo hot today. Even with the car airconditioning in full blast, driving through south expressway, we could still feel the heat from outside. We went to duty free shopping, mainly to get my Inay a new blender. The place, located close to the airport, was chaotic. And of course they had to impose this mess to everyone, by limiting the route of shoppers to one where everyone has to go through every section and every shop in the whole building. We also bought some whiskey for my Itay, his preferred alcohol.

I guess this frees us from our main christmas present requirements. The rest is a cinch. It's a good thing that the family politics is still well and alive. You take care of those high up in the pecking order, they take care of the rest. It's something so obviously still in place even with the kids. The younger ones listen to and look up to the older ones. With so many kids in the family, it's a relief that everything and everyone has, and knows, his own place, and responsibility is something left to trickle down the hierarchical chain. The danger, of course, if someone breaks the chain at any point.

© Joselito Briones

The pictures, top and above, are of the family house where we're staying.


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