My weekend started last Friday when I went to Crowne Plaza Hotel in Ortigas to attend the launch of the newest Jack & Jill Potato Chips, which they called "Shake and Roll." Very interesting kind of product as it have Japanese flavors - Salmon Sushi Wasabi and Unagi Kabayaki flavors. It was a short program, but I was glad to have attended it because I got to see several blogger pals, which I can only interact online.
My friend Vance and I walked together towards the bus station, and while walking we talked about books. Our conversation led to the recent news item about Dan Brown's latest book, "Inferno," in which he mentioned Manila (the capital city of the Philippines - where I am from) as "the gates of hell." It sparked many commentaries from different Filipinos... and Vance & I just shrugged it off, for the book is a work of fiction... although of course, me being a Filipino was hurt just a little bit. I got to read the pages of the book and somehow, I could say there's a hint of truth in it (sex trade happens in six continents, by the way... and yes traffic and pollution is bad here), but calling it "the gates of hell" was a little too heavy to take. Well, my country's not really that popular, so when one mentions it in books or tv shows or movies, it is considered a big deal, so it was a little saddening that in the little exposure the country had turned out to be negative. I just would like to show a little empathy to Sienna (the character in the book who traveled to the Philippines) - and just think that if it happened to me... regardless of which country I am at... it will be hell for me.
Anyway, my brother's girlfriend flew here in Manila to attend a conference, and of course my brother met up with her... and when brother got home, he shared with me a cupcake they bought. I only had a tiny taste of it as it was already midnight when brother got home, but it was good.
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I went to bed around 12:30am, and at 3am I was already up because I will be traveling with my sister to Makati City. Her shift at work was at 6am, so she had to leave the house at 4am, and because I have to attend a class at the Maya Kitchen at 10am and I wanted to be with my sister just to accompany her in traveling, I had to wake up very early, too. Well, she treated me to breakfast while I wait for my class, and I just used her netbook to lurk around GoodReads. I couldn't read any of my eBooks that time because my phone's battery runs out easily, I had to preserve as much battery juice as I could.
By 10am, I was already at the Maya Kitchen to attend the Thai Cooking class with chefs J. Gamboa (a famous celebrity chef here in the Philippines) and chef Malichat, a native of Thailand. They prepared five dishes that day, and I truly loved the steamed fish. This table spread was for presentation as they allow every participant to take pictures of the dishes, but we were served a taste each of the dishes.
Of course, after the class I went back to sister's workplace and waited for her to get off at work at 3pm. Together, we walked from the restaurant to EDSA Ayala, where we took the bus going to Ortigas.
From Ortigas, we walked until we reached Moonleaf Tea Shop at the Ortigas Home Depot, which was quite a long walk. Well, I am grateful for this walking because it allowed me to move and get sweaty (ooops, "glowing" I mean - K would be upset if I tell I am "sweating," he doesn't like that word). If you recall sometime ago, I received some gift certificate for this shop, and I wanted to share it with my sister, and this became the right time for us to use it.
As always, she had the Wintermelon Milk Tea, while I went for the Passionfruit Yakult (I love, love, love Yakult). We also decided to have early dinner that time and we shared Tuna Alfredo Pasta, a slice of Double Fudge Brownie (though I only had a taste and my sister ate all of it), and a piece of Butter Sambos. I received 4 gift certificates - good for 4 cups of drink, so the other two we took with us - I had the Honey Aloe Vera (first time for me to taste aloe vera and it was delicious) and she had the Hakka Milk Tea.
Again, we walked from Ortigas Home Depot 'til we reached the bus station in Ortigas EDSA where she took the van going to Marikina (she's sleeping over her friend's house) and I took the bus going home. Surprise, surprise... I saw my friend (and neighbor) Ria at the bus stop, so we traveled together... sharing stories.
Today, my sister and I ate lunch together, and while at Booksale, I received a call inviting me for a Japanese food tasting tomorrow lunch... so no exercise again, but on Wednesday, I will. I am having Aunt Flo in the house again, so it's dizzy, dizzy days for me again... when I go out tomorrow, I'd make sure I have some candies in my bag.
May we all have a great week ahead!
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