Food, food, food...

So, the other great thing about having friends in town is that I get to go to all these restaurants/food places around Tokyo.

Yeah, it's true Tokyo has a lot of fantab food but I rarely eat at these fantab places. First of all, I'm worried about putting on weight. My work usually has me tied to a desk for hours. Sooo, I don't think it's healthy to be eating ramen and tonkatsu and onigiri all the time. Haha! Second, I'm trying to do this intermittent fasting thing that my Richie has been doing. I fail most of the time but still, I try. Haha!

Anyway, so thanks to visiting friends, I was able to enjoy loads of Japanese food including okonomiyaki, seafood at Tsukiji Market, ramen (of course!), Japanese curry, Dominique Ansel's cookie shot and cronut, omurice, and so on and so forth.

I've yet to try Barbacoa. Hopefully, the next time my best friend is in town, we will get a chance to eat at Barbacoa. Haha!

Pinoy fiesta...

We had a Filipino feast last Saturday. Haha!

Just look at the photos of what we had...

Ahh, it was heaven for 5 overseas Filipino workers...

Study date at the library and the new restau at Forum...

Well, today was packed again. Haha!

There are two highlights today. But first, let me begin with the somewhat highlights. Being extremely tired yesterday, I slept at 1030AM and that meant I was up before 7AM. That was great because I was able to go for my usual short run at the park connector near my neighbourhood. By 8AM, I was back at my place and got ready for my morning, noontime and early afternoon activities. The other somewhat highlight was that I managed to finally schedule another session with Yoshisensei. I'm glad that I can still remember most of the things. However, I really need to study, study, study more.

Okay, moving on to the two highlights.

First is something that happened from morning until early afternoon just before my session with Yoshisensei. I went on a somewhat different date. A day after National Day, I started talking to this guy who lived a few train stations away from my place. We agreed to meet up for lunch today. A lunch date was just right because I planned to spend morning and early afternoon at the library.

When I told him my plans, he said, "Why don't we have breakfast? And then, if you don't mind the company, I'll join you at the library. I have stuff to do too, anyway." In my head, I thought that was even better.

So WDL Guy and I met up at a Toastbox near the library. He is a nice guy. The best thing is that we can actually talk. It was easy to get along with him. From Toastbox, the library was just a stone's throw away. He suggested we go there thirty minutes before opening time. When we reached the library, I understood why. There were already four queues of students camping out and waiting for the library to open. As the opening time neared, the crowd got bigger. It felt strange because I think WDL Guy and I were the most senior in the crowd. We were surrounded by sec school and uni kids. Haha!

The library finally opened and I led WDL Guy to the usual spot I go to for peace and quiet. For the next three hours, we were just seated next to each other. I was reading my book and taking down notes. He was also doing his own thing.

Around 1PM, I asked him if he wanted to have lunch. He said yes. That was great because it meant continued talk time from breakkie. We didn't really get to talk at the library. Haha! We walked over to a kopitiam near to the library. Thankfully, it wasn't crowded. We got a table and managed to stay for about two hours for lunch and chitchat.

By 3, I told him I needed to get back because I had a 4PM appointment. He was kind enough to walk me back to the train station. I thought that was nice. Before we parted ways, he told me to give him a call if ever I'll bet at the library. That way, he will join me. I'm not sure if there'll be a second date but I'm glad that the somewhat impromptu date happened.

On to the second highlight of the day, it was dinner with Mon, Richie, Ana, Ann Marie at the newly opened Jamie Oliver's at Forum. I'm always happy to see Mon and Richie because we never run out of things to talk about. It was also great seeing Ana and Ann Marie because both girls always have stories to share.

Hmm, about the restau, I only enjoyed the dessert. For the pasta and the pizza, I'd choose The Wine Connection on any given day. For the price that we paid, we could have had a much better meal at Wine Connection. Hehe! Thank goodness for great company!

I reached home thirty minutes ago. What I thought was going to be an early night turned out to be late night. Hehe! It's okay.

Today was a good day!

Krazy Garlic night with the guys...

Last night, my running buddies and I were privileged to have dinner with the poster boy/model for CB - Sarge. Hehe!

The guy is also a running buddy.

Sorry, the CB posterboy/model is an inside joke. I was on my way to the gym one evening and when I passed through one of the underpasses along Ayala Ave., I had to stop when I saw the guy on the corporate ad for CB.

I thought, "Parang the guy looks familiar. Could it be Sarge? It can't be Sarge. It IS Sarge!"

I paused for a bit to read the corporate ad (impressive career accomplishments,Sarge!) before taking out my phone to get a photo of the corporate ad.

Sarge is based in Singapore for a couple of years now.

He's a really nice guy who loves to party and who knows how to give a good party. Haha! Last December, a whole bunch of running buddies flew to Singapore for the Standard Chartered Marathon. Sarge, who did the half-marathon, hosted an after-race/pre-gimik party at the Marina Bay Sands. O ha! San ka lulugar? Hehe!

Uhm, he's also one of the really, really lucky ones because he gets to come visit Manila every so often. Either because he has to meet clients here or because he got to buy cheap plane tickets.

Because of the frequency that he flies to Manila, I would tease him, "Ginagawa mong parang Cubao or Quiapo lang ang Pilipinas, ah!"

His present trip needed him to stay in the city for about a week so that gave him and us to meet up and have dinner.

Thanks to our Facebook group page, we were able to easily organize a dinner with Sarge.

Despite the heavy rain that suddenly poured last night, the dinner had a good number of attendees. Ponch and Josef were among the first to arrive. Our favorite gal pal Didi was there. Sarge was joined by Reg who came all the way from work in the south. JB showed up with the newest addition to the growing cast, Miguel. Hehe! Chase, despite not feeling well (hehe!), also joined the gang. Marl, unfortunately, had work. I dunno where Jamie and Ros were. The same goes for the other usual suspects.

We had dinner at Krazy Garlic in Greenbelt 5. Since we didn't have a reservation, we had to wait for about an hour (!!!) before getting a table. Note to self: dining out on Friday nights need a reservation. Hehe! I came from an event coverage, and I had dinner there so I just had beer.

It was a good dinner. I don't see the guys that often, so I'm really happy whenever we get the chance to get together. We spent a good couple of hours at the restau just talking about all sorts of things. Hehe!

We finished quite late, but it was really good. And it became one of Sarge's hosted get-together again because he took care of the bill.

Thanks, Sarge! I owe you a tugs tugs night! ;P

Dindin at Tasty Dumplings...

I recently stumbled upon a nice restau near my house thanks to neighbor Marl.

Tasty Dumplings. It's at the corner of Banawe and Retiro.

Marl and I spent the afternoon with friends Matt and Alonzo at Trinoma to watch the latest John Lloyd flick. Since it was a holiday the following day, the mall was packed. Dinner there wasn't really an option because it would be a nightmare to find a cab if we left at a later time. Good thing Matt offered to give us a ride until Quezon Ave. where it was much easier to get a cab.

Marl wasn't decided on having dinner, but later on agreed before we parted ways. The next question was where.

Banawe was the best option because it was near our homes. It's been awhile since I've been to this part in the area where I live, and I was surprised to find so many good dining places along the Quezon Ave.-Del Monte stretch of Banawe.

That included Tasty Dumplings.

Marl was excited for me to try the restau, because apparently it's a hit within his family.

The place was quite simple, and the food was good but really affordable.

I got the porkchop rice. Marl got the porkchop with noodles on the side. We also ordered steamed dumplings. For drinks, we got the soy milk.

I have to say I really enjoyed the meal. For everything that we got, we paid about P300. Not bad, yeah?

Will definitely go back to try out the other items on the menu.

Tasty Dumplings Banawe is at # 583-585 N.S. Amorato Ave., cor. Banawe St.. Phone nos. are 411-7932 / 411-7921.

Mindanao trip = Food trip...

One of the good (and equally bad) things about traveling is getting to try the local food.

Even if the same dish is available in Manila, it still is not the same when you get it locally. The biggest sin against native dishes is being cooked Manila style. Hehehe!

Anyway, the last CDO-Misamis Oriental-Davao work trip was full of good food, even if the trip itself was tiring. The seafood, though bad for my joints, was just yum! I had a little of everything. And even if I wanted to have second helpings, and yeah for certain dishes a third one, I had to restrain myself due to health and waistline reasons. Hehehe!

My favorite was the "Taktaken (?)" in MisOr. It was cooked as adobo. To eat its meat, you had to bang the shell on the table (hence, the name) until the silver thing falls off. Then you get the meat inside the shell. It tastes like squid, and I loved it! Haha!

I wasn't able to try Durian coffee though. My friend Maver says it's really good. Oh, well. There's always a next time.

Above are some of the dishes that made my trip to Mindanao a gastronomic feast! :) I wasn't able to take a photo of the other dishes anymore. Hehe!