Mini Reunion

© Joselito Briones

We had to rush to Jing's place in BF Homes in Paranaque. I was under the impression that the reunion that we've been planning for sometime, for our batch in Architecture in Mapua Institute of Technology, would be held at about the same time as the last time - early evening. She sent me a text messages saying the first attendee family has arrived. at 9am. We didn't make it until 2 anyway. The ones present were: Jing (Arch. Geraldine Legaspi to anyone else, now doing mainly restaurant projects and thriving, aside from teaching in the same uni), her sister Joy and her kids, Ramil and his wife, Nora (Arch. Nora Soriano, please, currently terrorizing the new administration of the school), Maricel and her daughter, Norman and Ching (uni sweethearts who had their first baby they lovingly refer to as their thesis, having been born in our last year in Mapua), Boyong and Weng also uni sweethearts, and their kid.

There's so many stories to tell, I'm sure once in awhile these annecdotes will make it here. Right now it's just great to see old friends again, and to know that they're doing well.


XXX

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.


XXX

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.

XXX

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.


XXX