Support Team Get-Together

Much needed R&R of the Support Team.

Happy Meal

Best meal I've had in a while.

For Sunday lunch, Lem, the kids and I went to Wok at The Avenue Square on Magsaysay Avenue.

Wok is a Chinese restaurant and has been around for a long time now. They serve really delish authentic Chinese cuisine.

Lunch consisted of Crab and Corn Soup (approved by Tami), Chicken with Honey (served on a nest of crispy noodles), Sweet and Sour Pork (Enzo's choice), and (Lem's fave veggie) Broccoli with lotsa shrimp! Yum-mee.

The food was good but what made things better were the people I was with. They were such great meal companions. Being with them was sheer pleasure. =D

Thanks to my uber gwapo lunch dates, Lem, Enz, and Tam.

Ain't I the lucky one? ;-)

Sake Time at the Metro

I first learned about Tokyo Tokyo Metro in one of the issues of Yummy Magazine. After telling Lem about it, we decided that we would check the place out once we have the opportunity. Months passed and we heard opportunity zealously knocking at the door.

Since it has been a while since I've read about the article, we kinda forgot (SOA) whether Tokyo Tokyo Metro is located at Glorietta 5 or Greenbelt 5. Lem said that chances are, it's located at Greenbelt 5 since that is where most high-end restos are located. I told him that Tokyo Tokyo Metro is not exactly what one would consider as a high-end resto. The article on Yummy would have mentioned that. We decided to ask one of the persons manning the concierge desk at Glorietta. She said that all she knew was there is, indeed, a Tokyo Tokyo at G5. She wasn't sure, though whether it's the Metro version. Such a big help. =(

Filled with uncertainty, we walked, nonetheless, towards Glorietta 5. Once we reached the entrance, we rushed to the nearest directory and checked the listing for Tokyo Tokyo Metro. We were at the right place. *insert happy jig here*

Assorted Maki + Cold Sake = Japanese Bliss

We went to Tokyo Tokyo Metro for the Sake. The (relatively) new resto is a little different from the regular Tokyo Tokyo as it serves alcoholic beverages. It is patterned after the Japanese izakaya, a type of drinking establishment frequented by office people after a hard day's work. That is why, aside from sake, they also serve local and Japanese beer.

I have never had sake before. Hence, the excitement at finally being able to imbibe some. When our sake arrived, we stared at the bottle for a couple of seconds before hastily opening the bottle and promptly pouring ourselves a glassful each. *kampai!*

I am not a sake expert but I liked the taste of that particular bottle. It was easy on the nose and the throat, to say the least. =)

Of course, what is Japanese dining without a plateful of maki? We ordered an assortment of makis (is there a plural form?). There was, of course, California Maki, Tuna Maki and a coupla pieces of tuna sashimis. *insert again happy jig here*

Was that all we ordered? Nope. Bring in the bento box.

There were huge prawns, some cabbage salad, a piece each of kani sushi and egg sushi, miso soup and a bowlful of rice. It was good enough for 2 people! =)

After we were done with the meal, though, we realized that we still had a lot of sake left in the bottle. So, we decided to order more food! After perusing the menu, we decided to try the yakitori. They offer chicken, pork and beef. Of course, we wanted to try all three so, we ordered the sampler. I didn't get to try the pork yakitori but i did bite into the chicken and beef. They were soooo tender and grilled just right.

What did we have for dessert? 2 pieces of the fudgiest fudge brownies came with the bento box. It came with a dipping, ehrm, icing. The bittersweetness of the brownies complemented pretty well the delicate and fluffy icing that had a slight hint of coffee. =D

After polishing off our dessert, I stared longingly at the sidewalk outside. I was hankering to light up a stick and pollute my lungs.

2 thumbs up for Tokyo Tokyo Metro. We shall come back for the food and of course, the sake. =)

333 =)

Minuend and Subtrahend

Spot the Difference.

Birthday Dinner (July 21)

This is sooooo long overdue...

I had every intention of posting this ASAP but for some reason...or a lot of reasons, I never got around to do that.

Anyways, for mother's and Enzo's joint birthday dinner, we decided to go to this quaint Italian inspired resto at Cereza on Magsaysay Ave.

Grissini Ristorante is tucked in the back of the group of restos and cafes at Cereza. It is warmly lit and looks really welcoming. It actually looks more like a trattoria than a ristorante. The sign says ristorante, though. So, ristorante it is! =D

After we were seated and (tried) to settle down, perused the menu, then gave our orders to the (uber patient) waiter. Waiting on us requires a lot of patience. Being a bunch of food lovers, we sometimes find it hard to decide on what to order.

Complimentary bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip

After much deliberation, these are what we decided to try:

Insalata Verde

Mixed greens (mostly lettuce, actually) with slices of onions, tomatoes, cheese shavings and drizzled with some vinaigrette.

Ravioli di Spinaci

Spinach Ravioli in Alfredo Sauce with Grated Parmesan Cheese. This is an okay dish 'cept that I think they forgot to drain the spinach. It's also a bit dry and bland. I still managed to polish it off, though. =D

Creamy Tuna Penne

Now, this we really loved! The pasta is cooked al dente. It was seasoned just right. Plus, unlike most dishes that involve fish, this doens't smell fishy at all. Tami really loved this and helped himself to seconds and thirds.

Roasted Pork with Baby Potatoes

 There wasn't really anything extraordinary about this dish..there was just a need to order a meat dish for Enzo.

Pizza di Quattro Formaggi

 I forgot what kinds of cheeses exactly were included in this pizza. Definitely, there's blue cheese and some parmesan. I don't know what the other two were. I forgot to ask. It doesn't matter, though. The pizza was va' bene! Molto bene, in fact! Tami had no qualms eating it, blue cheese and all.

Steamed Salmon with Basil Pesto

The very reason why we decided to dine at Gressini...mom wanted to eat this dish again...The fish was oh-so tender yet disappointingly under seasoned.

In all, it was a good dining experience.  

 

 

Lost Hombres

Singing to their hearts' content...Boss V is going to Clark for about a month. It was Jj's bday as well. Plus, we'll be extremely busy in the coming months. So, we felt that a team night out was in order. It was rather difficult deciding where to go and what to do. Naga is just a small city and there aren't really that many places to choose from. Eventually, we settled on singing for our supper. So, we trooped to a good videoke place in one of the hotels here. Everyone had a fun time releasing all stress and angst. It didn't matter that everyone was out of tune most of the time. :-D

Ball Breakers

We love balls part 2. No pingpong tonight (someone smashed the pingpong ball) but that won't stop us from having fun with balls. Who said spending friday night at the office is boring? Could've been better, though.

Smash that Ball

The favorite past time of the recruitment team. When they're not busy interviewing applicants and addressing various recruitment concerns, they play with balls. ;-) smart casual attire, notwithstanding.

Cam Sur Recruitment Team Lunch Out

It's been a while since we went out as a team. Vossing went to India for 3 weeks and when he came back, Dyehri went on a tour of duty in Clark for a month.

We've been planning to go out even before Dyehri went back but due to our "hectic" schedules, there didn't seem to be any right time to do that. Early today, Vos annpunced that by george, we were gonna have lunch together...TODAY.

It almost didn't happen again, actually. since Vos had a meeting at 2PM we decided to go out at 3PM. At the last minute though, the meeting was moved to 3PM. Then there was a sudden surge of applicants. Naku naman.

As pantawid gutom, we munched on some empanada, hot and spicy Sugo peanuts and Dyehri bought some Mr. Chips (Dyehri pronounces this with a \k\ sound).

At last, at 4PM, Vos' meeting was over and we trooped to the nearest pizza place.

It was great bonding with the team again. Trading jokes, light friendly, banter. Oh, wait, we do that all the time! haha. Anyhow, it was great having the team back together again. cue in senti music.

Rock on, Team Cam Sur. Here's to another fruitful year!!!

Come South, Cam Sur!

Ateneo de Naga University Chapel

Pathway to the Statue of St. Ignatius of Loyola

Camarines Sur Wakeboarding Complex

Apparently, when she woke up last Saturday, my sister decided she wanted to go to CWC. I was on my way downstairs for breakfast and I peeked into her room. "Let's go to CWC," she mumbled. Since I didn't have anyhting planned for the weekend and since I am in dire need of a life, I told her it was a good idea.

Over lunch we tried to recruit people to go with us. The kids, of course, were ecstatic. Bro J had to go to work, though. Mom and Pop had other commitments as well. So it was just Sis, the kiddos and I who were available.

We packed some food (chocolates and water --- it was my sis who took care of this) extra shirts, wipes, sanitizer (Influenza A, begone!) cameras, shades, and whatnots. We then drove to Pili, Cam Sur! Okay, I drove and they heckled and critiqued my driving style, like they usually do.

First stop was at the SGS site, which is within the Provincial Capitol Complex and very near CWC. I gave sis a quick tour. We didn't stay long since most of the associates have gone home for the day. The site, during the day is usually boooooring.

Next, we moved on to CWC! Yay! The crowd was surprisingly sparse, which suited me just fine since I don't like large crowds anyways. Since it was already 11:30 am when we got there, we decided to order lunch.

I tried to convince sis to share with me the Laing Pizza (I've heard people rave about this and wanted to try it myself) but unfortunately, she wasn't in the mood to try something different. Instead, we decided to have the Sausage Pizza instead. Along with that, we had fries (we always order fries whenever we eat out since this is Tami's fave) and the Tantrum Chicken Fingers (breaded strips of chicken breasts served with honey-dijon mustard dip and a side dish of potato salad. Since it was a veeeeery hot day, we washed the food down with large Mango Shakes. ***I'll upload the rest of the pics soon! :-)

I have no idea why they decided to call the chicken dish "Tantrum Chicken Fingers." I sure didn't throw a tantrum when it was served. The taste wasn't really spectacular and tantrum-inducing. It wasn't bad either. It tasted like, errrr, chicken. :-p The fries were okay but the pizza was really yummy! The dough was freshly made, the sausages were juicy and firm but not rubbery. It was all good! :-)

We left a bit after lunch and after taking a gazillion pics (camwhores!). Since we couldn't decide where to go next, we decided to visit Super Lolo and Super Lola in the cemetery. It's been a while since we went there so it was just right that we stopped by for a visit. We tried to look for numbers (lottery!) but couldn't find any apart from the dates on their tombmarkers.

Sis called Uncah Jay to inform him that we were gonna go to Ateneo to pick him up. So after we left the cemetary, we drove on to the Ateneo. We went around, but left after 30 minutes since the sweltering heat became really unbearable.

 

At 4Pm, we were home. Tired, sleepy and gearing up for our next adventure.

Sis in the City

After 10 months in Dubai, sis came back to PI for a rather longish vacay. Welcome back home, sis! *hugs*

Mi Chiamo Margherita

Last Sunday, I went out w 4 of my closest friends. It's been 3 months since our last get-together and we all concurred that it was time to update each other on the goings-on in our lives.

We had dinner at Gressini's, a quaint Italian-themed trattoria on Magsaysay Avenue. We were informed by the chef that they have not had yet their grand opening. "Soft opening pa lang po kami." This statement elicited snickers from the group since we have been talking about just that before we headed to Gressini's. Soft opening, private entrance, hard core. ha.ha.ha.

After much discussion as to what to order, we decided to have a salad (Okay but not really mind-blowingly impressive), Spinach Ravioli (It was rather dry and underseasoned but the cream sauce was tasty), and pizza (Di-vine, especially when topped with their special chili sauce).

After dinner, we decided to get a bit sloshed. So we piled into Mngr. Nonoy's car and headed to Jelatto. It was a pleasant surprise when Dr. Jeane and I found out that the margarita was on a buy-1-take-1 promo offer! I had a glass the previous night at another bar when I went out with Ivy and I was still craving for more! Needless to say, we immediately ordered 1 each. Ol' Maggie didn't disappoint us. It was yum-mee! Heaven in a glass! I was grinning from ear to ear after every sip! Trainer Doris, on the other hand, decided to order Mango Shake. "Just in case I'm, you know...wink, wink!" :-)

The boys proceeded to order a bucket of Premium SMB. I haven't seen or tasted one before. Of course, i checked it out. It was a bit sweeter than regular beer and i love it!

It was a great night, in all. Even Jett the Messiah stayed on even if he planned to go home early.

Next outing: June 20. Ya-hoo.

Bookworms

In one of our fave hang out places...it's sooo hard to decide on a book! Wish we can buy 'em all!!!