SG-MNL-SG: 33 Hours (Finale)

Finally, the day of the main event & the purpose of my trip - Gabo's Baptismal & 1st Birthday Party.

7:45am - Attended our regular church service and went straight to the baptismal.

9.30 - 11:30am - Baptismal
(I got stressed out...I wont elaborate why, but I was!)

12noon - 3:30pm - Choi Garden Birthday Party
(Me & my cousins were so hungry that I forgot to take photos - 12 course lunch.)

4 - 4:30pm - Went home to pack my bags and off I went to the airport to catch my flight.

I was literally unable to attend to anything this whole day except for just doing the necessaries. It's all good! I was able to meet up with my relatives and friends, did some small chit chats! and was able to see Gabo - my cute little godson...



Ok, this story is getting long for a 33hour trip...moving on... :)

SG-MNL-SG: 33 Hours (Part 3)

I was vacant from 6-7pm, just before dinner and after the cake baking session and so i met up with Lanee for tea - Starbucks Shangri-La. We had to do speed catching up within one hour and so we did. Lanee & I have known each other for almost 10 years, she became my travel buddy last year...and so...the coffee session instantly became a planning session on where to go next and ofcourse you cannot discount the amount of gossips we were able to do - it's natural, we're girls :)

By 7.10, my mobile phone was ringing, I have not seen my dad yet, I have a dinner to go to, I have a coffee meetup with Dara and Emman after dinner and I was just plainly exhausted. The thing is, when I am in Manila, I don't have full control of my time, I have to follow my folk's and relatives schedule of which nothing is definite until it really happens. With this, it is hard to arrange and pre-plan my own meetups. Thank God for good friends - they fully understand my situation. I love them so dearly and they have been with me through these years....incredible!

Ok the phone was ringing, I was on my way home, the gate opened and my mum was outside again waiting for me to leave for dinner. I had to rush up, say hello to my dad because he will not be joining us for dinner - that took me about 10 minutes :( , then off we went to Mann Hann for a simple dinner with again the usual suspects - cousins, aunts and uncles. This group, generally meet up and go out almost every night for dinner and I really enjoy being with them too, they are fun and do gossip alot, which keeps me current :)

Dinner was normal - tons of food and ultra hungry people.


Lumpia (Hubad) - Open Lumpia


String Beans with Minced Meat


Fried Squid


XO Fried Rice


Cha Mee


Cha BeeHoon


Fish Ampalaya


Crispy Pork - I forgot the name?!


Tempura


Sweet and Sour Pork


Sago Gulaman



*I was not able to take photos of some of the dishes, cause I simply forgot, just jumped right to it and ate.. haha

By this time, I was really tired and sleepy, I had cancelled coffee and was just ready to hit the bed in order to be at the right state of mind for the next few hours to come...

Time: 6 - 10.30pm | Saturday

SG-MNL-SG: 33 Hours (Part 2)

For some reason, time flies faster when you are in Manila, ofcourse the traffic jam contributes most to this effect - before you know it it's 6pm.

After lunch, I went to my Aunt's house, to meet my relatives, they were in 1 house trying to fix the cakes and give aways for Gabo's Christening & 1st Birthday party.

I thought that I was there to see them in one go but little did I know, they have actually asked me to come to help. I normally don’t cook and neither have I tried baking, so I ended up just doing the small little things – packing, taking photos and being an annoying pain in the ass noisy.

The good thing that came out from this experience was - to be able to confirmed to myself that I wouldn’t bake anything for any occasion, the process is way too hard and complicated, it is just easier to buy it from the bake shop. But I guess for those who really love to bake, it is a very enjoyable task and the taste would only be half as good than when you buy it from any shop.

















Time: 2:30 - 6pm | Saturday

SG-MNL-SG: 33 Hours (Part 1)

I just arrived back from my very short trip to Manila - 33 hours all in all. Believe me that in this short span of time, I think I have gained like a million pounds from all the eating that I have done from everywhere.

From the airport, I traveled for about an hour before I finally reached my place - traffic jam caused by the ridiculous road works in EDSA (Highway), my mom was waiting for me at the front door to go to lunch with her "Saturday Group" - the name says it, a group of friends that tries to make it a point to meet every Saturday for lunch, it's just an excuse, they meet more than once a week.. haha but they try to be as complete as possible on Saturdays...

And so... lunch, dropped my bags and off we went - to Türkçe Yer. We have been fond of Mediterranean food and this was indeed very nice. The only draw back was the Baygon smell (they just sprayed) and the lack of lunch crowd. I was told that there are more people during dinner time. Of course, mother complained (the smell), apparently she became friends with the owner...


Pita Bread


Lentil Soup with Lemon


Cevizli Biber - Chili Walnut Dip


Tuna Salatasi - Tuna, Tomato, Lettuce


Babaganuc - Eggplant with Tomato & Chili
(I forgot to take a snap before we dug in)


Kusbasi - Grilled Beef Tenderloin (x 2 orders)
Karisik Izgaran - Kebab, Shish Tavuk, Kusbasi (Which looks similar, I forgot to take a snap)


Yarim Izgara - Grilled Half Boneless Chicken (x 2 orders)


Türkçe Yer Bar & Restaurant
#35 Timog Avenue, Brgy. South Triangle

After the meal, we still ordered dessert, tea and coffee for everyone...really stuffed. My lunch was really enjoyable because of the good food but more so because of good company - mom, auntie edna, auntie aida, auntie lily. Aw, I miss meeting Tita Terry and Tita Angie this trip :(

Time: 12 - 1.30pm | Saturday