Dine In: Bagoong Club Resto

I was super blessed to get 5 days off from school this past week. 

Thank you, Frolics! Viva Sto. Niño! :D

I spent a huge part of my so-called vacation dining out and catching up with family and friends. My parents came over from the province to spend time with me and my siblings. On their last night in Manila, we had dinner at this quaint, semi-hidden, but very homey restaurant in the Tomas Morato area.

Presenting: Bagoong Club Resto

This place is famous for using bagoong (obviously!) as their primary ingredient. Reminded me so much of Peanut Butter & Co. Pero siempre, instead of peanut butter, they use bagoong. Ang kulit lang? Haha.

They have nice interiors, right? It's so homey, the phrase "feel right at home" feels like an understatement. As you can see, the receiving area looks much like the living room of an old house. Framed photographs of celebrities who've visited the restaurant hang on the walls. They also have framed newspaper and magazine clippings. Judging from the number of photos on the wall, the place is obviously a hit (especially among celebrities who seek privacy). 

With the wooden tables and chairs, you'd think you traveled back in time - very Rizal-ish, no? :)

Obviously, I fell in love with the resto's interiors. But the food didn't hurt either. We ordered The Bagoong Club Chicken Inasal, Crispy Pork, Laing Espesyal, and Inihaw na Boneless Bangus. The food was a bit salty, given that the main ingredient is Bagoong, but they didn't disappoint! Believe me when I say I was so full. And the laing - to die for!

And before I forget, they serve free appetizer! You'll love their Singkamas with Bagoong. Your choice between Bagoong Asya and Bagoong Umaga. Pero kung magpapaka-choosy ako, I'd trade in the Singkamas for green mangoes. Haha.

So, the food is great and the place is amazing. What else makes the place stand out?
Well, there's free Wi-Fi for one.  Malakas ang signal, I tell you. Haha.
The people are very accommodating. They weren't lying when they said bottomless Iced Tea kasi the waiters are so attentive, they make sure your glass doesn't run out of iced tea.
The security guard was also nice. He even offered to take a picture of me outside the restaurant.
Er, thanks Kuya, pero shy ako. Haha.
And the music? Well, my kind. By my kind, I mean quiet, slow and mostly instrumental lang. Haha.

The resto is perfect for studying, dining out with friends, or even just for spending your alone time. Definitely a place worth going back to.

Visit the Bagoong Club Resto at 

122 Scout Dr. Lazcano, Sacred Heart, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Telephone: 929-5450 • 929-0544
Hours: Mon - Sun 11:00am - 3:00pm • 6:00pm - 11:00pm

For more information, visit their website: 

www.bagoongclub.multiply.com

6th Week

I was busy looking at my planner this afternoon, when I noticed that we're already on the 5th week of the year. Time flies so fast, right? Well, to keep up, I decided to turn the page and prepare for week 6. My very cool planner has a saying/ reminder/ quote for every week and the one for week 6 goes like this: "I always keep in my heart and in my mind that I can be loved the way I deserve to be." Pretty deep for only the 6th week of the year, don't you think? Haha.  

Funny, cause it's actually a thought that's been going through my head for the past few days. And it's also one of the promises I made to myself before the year started: to love myself more. I honestly believe that I should love myself because no one is obliged to do that for me. But loving yourself enough is so much different from loving yourself too much.

Allow me to say that I think it's wrong for a person to put himself on a pedestal, to think of himself so highly. There's  honestly nothing wrong with being confident. However, there is something inappropriate about being overly confident. Mind you, everything has its limits.

I can be loved the way I deserve to be.

How much do you deserve? What makes you think you deserve it?

I know someone who's been let down several times before, and she swears she'll find someone who'll realize her worth. She thinks she deserves so much more than what she's getting. Granted that she does, how can she ask that from someone who thinks she deserves less? My point is, you can't make someone love you the way you think you should be loved. What if you're wrong about yourself? Can't you just wait for people to show you how much love you're worth instead of imposing it on them?

I guess it's okay for us to think that we deserve to be loved in a certain kind of way. But if we except too much, we'll end up getting hurt in much the same way. Makes sense, right?

Lola's 90th Birthday - Photos Overload

Here are more photos taken last Saturday during my Lola's birthday party.

Thanks to my sister for putting them together, reducing the actual number of photos from 400 or so to barely a hundred. Imagine looking at that much photos :))

Celebrating 90 Years of Life, Chinese Style

Day 2 of my long weekend was spent celebrating my Lola's 90th birthday. 

It was a party we planned for over a month. Everyone had to come home to Quezon to celebrate. Papa got home just in time to attend the party. Mama, Papa, Ate and I left Manila around two o'clock in the afternoon after having lunch at Max's - Papa's favorite restaurant. We were on the road for more than three hours, with just one stopover for coffee.

When we got to Lola's house, almost everyone was already there. We quickly changed into our red and yellow shirts. The grandchildren had to wear red, while the children had to wear yellow. Very Chinese New Year lang ang peg, right? Ate Pam, the pasimuno, thought it was lucky to wear red and yellow. Salubong na rin daw kasi sa Chinese New Year.

After the Mass, syempre kainan na! 

It was a simple gathering. After dinner, we had a small audio-visual presentation. Then, all the anaks and all the apos were asked to deliver their birthday greetings. Photo ops followed shortly thereafter. We ended the night with drinks and videoke. :)

At 90, my Lola still looks strong, no?

The birthday celebrant with her children and their spouses

To date, my Lola has 22 apos and nine apos sa tuhod   :)

Happy birthday, dear Lola! We look forward to celebrating more birthdays with you! :*

Impromptu Lunch Date

Thank God, midterms are over!

I swear, feeling ko bar exams yung tinake ko this past week. It was mentally and physically draining. For five days, I had about 4 or 5 hours of sleep daily. That's why when I learned that our Legal Writing exam got cancelled, I decided that the first thing I wanted to do was to sleep and maybe just wake up after two days. Haha.  

But for a law student like me, maximizing a long weekend is very important. So I sent one of my best friends an SMS and invited her out to lunch the next day. Good thing she agreed to meet me and my sister for a quick bite. We ate within the vicinity of her office because she only had an hour and a half to steal away from work.

It was just the usual catch up lunch date where we talked about school and work. My best friend shared so many secrets, but I don't want to spill, so I'm keeping my mouth shut. :)

After lunch, my sister and I hit the mall for a little window shopping. As always, I made a stop at the book store and found two interesting books from Nicholas Sparks - The Lucky One and Best of Me. But I didn't buy 'em. And I'm not buying 'em until I find time to read 'em. As of the moment, I still  have 3 John Grisham books and 1 David Nicholls book on my list. Those Sparks books will have to wait.

Anyway, Ate and I went home way before rush hour hit and just slouched on the couch. We watched a fairly interesting movie called Dream House. 

For the story line, click here.

Katakot yung poster no? Promise, the story is amazing. Really not what I expected. You have to watch it to understand what I'm saying. 

So there goes the first day of my long weekend. The second day will be spent with family since we're celebrating my Lola's 90th birthday. I'll blog about it once I find time. (Grabe na yung issues ko with time ha. Haha.) Ciao for now! :)

The Birthday Boy, Exposed!

My younger brother is celebrating his 21st birthday today! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Baby Bro! ☺

As a birthday gift to him, I'll write a blog to make all you people out there understand what's so lovable about him.

(Another reason why I'm writing this blog: He saw my blog for my Ate, and nainggit sya. Haha.) 

1. HE'S THE FUNNIEST PERSON I KNOW. He can make a living out of making me and my sister laugh. Comedy bars should hire him. He cracks the funniest jokes and makes the best facial expressions with sound effects.

2. HE COMES UP WITH THE WEIRDEST EXPRESSIONS. He says random things and words you can't understand like thirty-four, fatty chubby earthworm, jervy and soshua. I can't explain what they mean. You'll have to ask him.

3. HE'S A SOFTIE. Sobra s'yang lambing. Kahit na 34 years old na yan, he still kisses us on the cheek before he leaves the house.  And Mama finds it difficult to be angry with him for a long time, kasi nga dinadaan n'ya sa lambing. And by saying he's a softie, I also mean na may pagka-panglawin yan. I remember him watching a horror film with his friends way back. When he got home, he asked me, "Ate, pwede ba 'ko dito matulog sa kwarto n'yo?" Haha. He was actually scared of monsters under the bed :))

4. BASTA DRIVER, SWEET LOVER APPLIES TO HIM. With a little lambing and some suhol, I can get him to drive me to the mall or to anywhere when I have to meet friends. The hatid also comes with a sundo. Haha. 

5. HE'S A GOOD KUYA. We don't have a sister or a brother younger than him, but he loves kids. He likes giving coins to street children. Sometimes I wish for a younger brother for him para lang may kakampi s'ya sa bahay. Haha. Joke lang po, Ma and Pa ☺

6. HE HAS THE BEST TASTE IN  MUSIC. Well, we don't really agree when it comes to the best music, but (sige na nga, aaminin ko na) his playlist actually rocks. He's already heard of songs even before they get played on radios.

7. HE'S THE LIFE OF THE PARTY. Our Christmas parties would certainly be boring if he wasn't around. It's because he's so maingay and madaldal. Papa would often ask for five minutes of complete silence from him. Hindi n'ya kaya! Haha.

8. HE CAN DO THE DOUGIE. Believe me when I say he can teach you how to dougie. I'd like to think he was part of the Cali Swag District in his past life.

9. HE MAKES THE BEST VOICE IMITATIONS. He can mimic the voices of Barney, Scooby Doo, and that priest from When in Rome. I get a kick out of asking him to imitate their voices.

10. HE SENDS RANDOM TEXT MESSAGES. I'd usually get an SMS from him asking for word definitions of this and that. He would also use me for grammar checking. Ginagawa n'ya 'kong Google!

There. I've exposed your secrets to the online community. Mababawasan na friends mo. HAHA.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY BRO! 

Don't grow up so fast ha. Wag ka muna mag-aasawa! :))

Love you more than I can ever express :*

Hi Ho Silver!

My older sister turned 25 yesterday and this is blog entry is an account of how we celebrated her birthday. ☺

She was super busy with a school report, she almost didn't notice when the clock struck 12 and she turned a year older. Good thing I bought a chocolate cupcake and some candles just so she could blow a candle on her big day. Given our small space at home, it was really hard to hide the surprise from her. I had to improvise big time and use a little of my acting skills. 

Holding her "birthday cupcake" 

I got her a second surprise when I greeted her on Facebook and posted a link to the blog I wrote especially for her. If you want to read the blog, click here.

Her third surprise was breakfast. Everyone knows I can't cook to save my life, so cooking breakfast for her wouldn't be a good idea. I revisited my scheming genes and came up with an idea! I woke up early - or at least earlier than her, went online and clicked mcdelivery.com.ph. HAHA. Take-outs and deliveries have always been my lifesavers. 

She was so shocked when someone knocked on our door at nine in the morning. Thanks, McDonald's for the prompt delivery! Here's what we got for breakfast:

Longganisa breakfast!

That was my last surprise for the day. Not to sound biased, but I think she was surprised naman. Haha. Mind you, I put in a lot of effort ha. It's really very hard to surprise someone you're with almost 24/7. Lots of creative thinking and resourcefulness were needed. I'm actually thankful that I was able to give her a surprise. One item checked off this year's bucket list! Pero secret lang natin ha, I'm looking forward to surprising more people this year. ☺

We met up with my two cousins for lunch at Megamall. They were coming from the South, so that was where it was most convenient to meet. When they arrived, we transferred to Greenhills to have lunch there. Labo no? Haha. Kasi we couldn't find a nice place to eat in SM. Pero wag kayong tatawa na we ended up in Don Henrico's instead. Double haha.

The birthday girl posing for a wacky photo with my cousins

Me and the birthday girl

Lunch!

That's what we had for lunch. I was so full, I wasn't able to finish my plate. For a plate that big, it was super cheap! Imagine, for a hundred and seventy five pesos, you have two slices of garlic bread, your choice of chicken and your choice of pasta. Plus, may softdrinks pa! Happy tummy! ☺

After lunch, we walked around Greenhills, then went back to Megamall to drop off the two gals. We managed to slip in a little shopping. I ended up buying a pair of sunnies, a pair of shoes, a blouse, a shirt and a foldable bag for myself. Ako may birthday? Haha. 

It was generally a good day. I'm glad my sister enjoyed kahit papano. It would have been nicer if she got to celebrate it with the whole family. After all, it's her 25th birthday. It's not everyday you celebrate your silver anniversary in this world. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ATE! Don't worry, you still have 6 years to go before they cross your age off from calendars. ☺

An Open Letter to the Birthday Girl

My older sister is celebrating her birthday today. Every year, thinking about a more creative way to greet her is getting harder. For lack of creative juices, here's my birthday greeting for this year. ☺
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Ate,

Guess what? It's your birthday today! Because it's your birthday, deserve mo ang blog na ito.
At dahil 25 ka na, I'll give you 25 reasons why you're one of God's biggest blessings. ☺

It's because
   ... you lend me your clothes. And money. But mostly clothes.

   ... you never forget to buy me pasalubong.

   ... you ALWAYS let me have the balat sa likod ng KFC chicken.

   ... you don't sleep until I do, even if I have tons of homework.

   ... you let me have your share of ice cream.

   ... you let me use your Facebook account so I can play Tetris Battle.

   ... you wash the dishes whenever I'm late for school.

   ... you watched Contagion and Love Me If You Dare with me, even if it was against your will.

   ... you went with me to the Manila Ocean Park for a science project.

   ... you're friends with my best friends.

   ... you understand my kakuriputan.

   ... you rarely make fun of my fashion sense.

   ... you don't think twice about sharing your perfume with me.

   ... you cook for me and you clean the banyo.

   ... you go with me far-off places to fulfill my endeavors (think MOA, Pasay, and the PNSB).

   ... you laugh at my jokes.

   ... you always let me have the huling subo ng pagkain.

   ... you tolerate my love for Coke.

   ... you often offer to pay for the pamasahe, sa jeep or tricycle lang ha.

   ... you listen to my stories about law school and life in general.

   ... you go with me to UP just to eat fishballs and kwek-kwek.

   ... you bear with my kind of music.

   ... you download games for me on your iPod.

   ... you take care of me whenever I get drunk after the annual Reynoso Christmas party.

   ... I know you love me just as much as I love you.

Happy birthday, dear sister! Thank you for everything! And I'm not just saying this to sound showbiz or because it rolls off the tongue. I mean it in every word. Thank you.

I wish you love, happiness and twenty more lifetimes. ☺

Love,
Angie

"Happiness is having a sister, sharing a sandwich, getting along. Happiness is singing together when the day is through. And happiness is those who sing with you." 

- Lea Salonga, Happiness

Take Me Away

I started following Bianca Gonzales' blog a few weeks back and I instantly became envious of her trips abroad. 

If only I had the time and money to afford trips to foreign countries, I'll surely visit:

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Santorini, Greece

The Maldives

Tuscany, Italy

Venice, Italy

At 23, I think I have enough time to save up for these trips. Or you can just sponsor them. Haha.

SOMEBODY PLEASE, TAKE ME AWAY.

* All photos grabbed from Google.

My Bucket List-New Year's Resolutions Mash-Up :)

The New Year bug has affected me big time. Six days into the New Year and I'm still thinking about what I want to achieve this year. Like I said, I'm not into New Year's Resolutions, and I just realized that much of what I did last year were unplanned. I did not plan on getting a job, quitting my job, going to law school (well, slight lang ang sinasabi kong hindi pagplano nito), or going to Singapore (eto din, kunwari di ko alam). I knew I wanted to do those things, and I knew that I will eventually do them, but there were no exact dates, times, or locations.

Believe me when I say I'm a huge planner. I'm OC. And I've kept all my planners since I started using them in 2005. But I noticed that among all my old planners, my 2011 planner was the least used. I barely had time to write my plans last year because I was too busy putting all those law stuff in to my head.

Don't worry. I promise to make time for planning again this year. In fact, I have two planners for 2012 - one for school, and one for all those outside of school. Pero mukhang wala akong maiilagay sa out-of-school a. Haha.

And for this year, I've already come up with a list (sort of a bucket list, really) of things I want to do. Again, I don't require a date or time to achieve these "short-term goals". I just wanna do them (hopefully!) within the year.

1. Ride a horse. I got this idea from my classmates. Haha.
2. Fly to a foreign country.
3. Visit a city or a province - in the Philippines - I've never been to before.
4. Get a hobby.
5. Embrace a sport.
6. Start a collection.
7. Watch more movies in cinema houses and not just at home. This means less torrent downloading and pirated DVDs . Haha.
8. Buy more expensive stuff. Cause I'm kuripot like that y'all.
9. Watch a concert or a play. This'll be a first! 
10. Make more phone calls and send more SMS. 
11. Surprise a family member or a friend.
12. Do something really good for a stranger.
13. Do something for the first time.
14. Get a new license and drive.
15. Take more photos and become an active blogger.

There. 15 goals to achieve in the next 12 months. 

I think I just made a Bucket List-New Year's Resolutions Mash-Up. Haha.

Wish me luck! :)

Paper-Writing-Time OST

It's two in the morning. I'm wide awake because I'm trying my best to write a paper for school.

My sister has been asleep for quite some time now, and as I am all by myself, the silence is becoming deafening. 

So I hit Youtube and chose a song that my brother told me about this morning.

It's Jason Mraz's I Won't Give Up.

These were his exact words when he told me about the song, "Magugustuhan mo yun. Emo ka e."

Watda. Hindi po ako emo.

But he was right. I liked the song.

In fact, as I write this, I've played the song exactly eight times already.

It's not exactly the perfect paper-writing-time OST. But at least, it's enough to get me writing again.

There. Nine times now. Haha.

P.S. Wouldn't it be nice to have someone say, "I won't give up on us?" Tee hee <3

Still a Beauty at 90

My maternal grandmother turns 90 this month. Here's to hoping I live as long as she does, even longer :)

ADVANCED HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOLA DEAREST! <3