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Posts Tagged ‘greenbelt

Oct

HIS HALLOWEEN HISTORY

October. It’s that month of the year again when my family usually plan for Trick or Treating. Back in the Philippines since Gabby turned two, Tina and I used to bring him in full Halloween kiddie costume in TriNoma, Glorietta and Greenbelt malls and even in his school in Quezon City where he spent his Nursery, Kindergarten and Preparatory years, he participated and enjoyed Halloween celebration with his classmates and teachers. And when I brought them here to Penang, Malaysia in 2011, he also joined a Trick or Treat Halloween Costume Contest where he donned a Chinese-Pirate costume complete with face-make-up done by his lovely mom. He didn’t win in the contest but happily gained experience blending with Malaysian kids inside the mall. The photos above apparently show Gabby had fun in those Trick or Treating years. But for this year when Gabby turned 8 and has been acting and thinking like a young teenager already (read : he speaks of his crushes in school frequently), I’m not so sure if he still digs Halloween stuff; what I am definite is the fact that he’s excited again for the toys that Santa Claus will give him this Christmas.

This is one of the joys of spending QUALITY TIME with the family; regardless of the season or the occasion, it’s always nice when an ordinary moment turns into unforgettable pleasant memories.

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Jan

CHRISTMAS BREAK 2011 FOOD TRIP

By docgelo 11 Comments

Our Christmas Break 2011 Series includes :

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Foreword : You might need a glass of cold water when you browse this post. You have been warned, haha! *Most dishes are NON-HALAL too. Obviously, this is another gastronomic entry however, allow me to remind you again that I am not blogging food exclusively, but family and fun too. Go ahead, indulge and feast your eyes!

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The Christmas season in my country is all about family togetherness, friendly celebrations and homecoming particularly to those Filipinos who are residing and working abroad. Yuletide is such a perfect time for all those fun pursuits. It’s such a big blessing for us to be able to come home again after almost 2 year of being an expat-family here in Penang. Our hearts and stomachs remain loyal to the Philippines indubitably.

The following photos with brief descriptions essay some of the fantastic digestive feasts we savored with our families and friends during the entire 21 day-break (including holidays and weekends) we had in Manila. Don’t ask me about their calories, we’re not counting, haha!

At Via Mare in Greenbelt 3, Tina, Gabby and I enjoyed Filipino dishes….

Crispy Binagoongang Baboy served with Pakbet side dish (Crispy Pork Belly with Shrimp Paste and veggies).

Via Mare's Beef Caldereta was Tina's choice; sarap!

Our late-lunch-heavy-merienda included…

Wild Mushroom Soup for Gabby

Puto Maya : glutinous rice served with panutsa syrup and riped mangoes.

Gabby's personal preference : Shooters-a trio of guinumis, mais con yelo and halo-halo. The kid has his own taste, do you agree?

Via Mare's famous Bibingka : buttery, fluffy and served with salted egg (or kesong puti) delicious!

It’s only every Yuletide season when leaves of poinsettias become vividly red; lovely, aren’t they?

And poinsettias are lovelier at the facade of Manila Peninsula.

…where Gabby was overwhelmed with holiday cheers

…where we dined with one of our good friends of almost 2 decades, LG who also stands as one of Gabby’s dutiful godparents.

At the LOBBY of the Manila Peninsula, dinner included another set of Filipino favorites…

Kare Kare (Ox Tail and Veggies in Peanut Sauce served with Shrimp Paste) : one of my favorites!

Pancit Guisado

Lechon Kawali

And an Oreo-flavored sundae dessert for Gabby

Moving on to our other indulgence, at the Podium in Ortigas, we were treated to a Chinese dinner by my dad-in-law at …

I am proud to belong to a beautiful family…oh yes, that’s something to be proud of!

Must have soup…

then a prawn dish selected from the menu by my sister-in-law.

And despite no one’s celebrating a birthday (except for Baby Jesus!), must have Birthday Noodles…

Tender slices of beef and mushroom on a bed of broccoli’s always a winner for me.

Hakao or shrimp dumpling cannot be missed.

Our beloved kid ordered Four Seasons to wash down everything. Have I told you he has his own taste?

Gabby and his cousin, Raphael loved the dinner.

Then one lovely weekday afternoon, we found ourselves in the middle of Ayala Triangle in Makati City.

At last, after having a long thread at the inbox in facebook, we finally arranged a meet up with our good blogger-friends around the area of their offices in Makati City. The lunch was set initially at Banapple, however the place was packed, so we had to look for Plan B : Wee Nam Kee.

It’s our (Tina, Gabby and I) first time to dine at this Singaporean-inspired food place, where Hainanese Chicken Rice is the bestseller.

Hainanese Chicken cooked two ways : Steamed and Roasted; sarap pareho! And we ordered LARGE! haha

Dyan, one of the most bubbly blog buddy I have suggested we try Cereal Prawns when we visited Singapore last year. However, we didn’t have the chance back then, and luckily, it’s available to sample at Wee Nam Kee. Another yummy!

Here are our pretty lunch dates at Wee Nam Kee :

Tina & Gabby with blog buddies, Marian, Dyan and Grace

And we had another version of Birthday Noodle. Sarap din!

Two days before our flight back to Penang, I attended to the invitation of Ivan Man Dy of Old Manila Walks a personal FREE Big Binondo Food Wok along with other BIG TIME food bloggers (read : For the nth time, this may be a food post but I am not into an exclusive food blogging). After that almost 4 hours for pigging out at Manila Chinatown, I hurried to meet my family and my sister-in-law with our Med school classmates and great friends, also godparents to Gabby –doc Shiny and doc Mitch at Peking Garden, TriNoma Mall in Quezon City.

At around half hour past 6 in the evening when I arrived, they’ve already ordered and all I had to do is eat. But because I just came from another food trip, I was still satiated and had more appetite in catching up with them and our lost times.

On our table at Peking Garden :

Forgive me, I failed to get the names of the dishes from the menu; as I mentioned, I arrived when there were already food on the table.

Spareribs, obviously. It tasted better than it looks.

Fried chicken that’s nothing special to rave about.

They also selected Yang Chow Fried Rice and yes, Birthday Noodle again. However, if I can call the attention of Peking Garden with this post, or the concerned diners in the TriNoma branch, then I’d like to ask them the reason why their waitresses have to get the used plates from their diners’ table IMMEDIATELY, as in, IN A SNAP, iyong tipong hindi pa tapos kumain, kinukuha na ang plato. Why? Never do that to your paying customers, okay? I believe it’s disrespect. Why in a hurry? May lakad kayo? LOL! I swear, of all the food places I’ve featured here on my blog, my family and I will never set foot in Peking Garden TriNoma ever again, seriously.

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There was no lack of excitement in all the moments amidst gastronomic feasts we shared with our families and friends. Our vacation was made complete with such wonderful experiences. We look forward again to another holiday when we can extremely stretch the time to bond with our love ones.

Oct

HALLOWEEN IN PENANG, 2011

By docgelo 22 Comments

At two years old, he was dressed as a pumpkin. The following year, as Count Dracula. And with his 3 years in Preschool –Nursery, Kindergarten and Preparatory, he wore ninja, scarecrow and tiger-chef costumes with appropriate face-paint makeups done specially by Tina.

From his school to malls in the Philippines such as our favorites, Greenbelt, TriNoma and Gateway, Gabby enjoyed collecting candies wearing his costumes we fancied every Halloween. He was even awarded as a student with “Most Creative Costume” in their school parties for 2 consecutive years.

Being abroad with limited budget doesn’t deter him from celebrating Halloween with other kids. Despite the fact that his school here and our appartment do not have similar activities, some malls here in Penang also conduct such events that add to priceless childhood happiness. Although admittedly, it’s still best and more FUN doing all these things in our own country (read : we miss the malls and almost everything in Pinas!).

29 October 2011, Saturday –We arrived 10AM, so early at Queensbay Mall and headed directly to Starbucks Coffee, not only to grab quick morning drinks and bites but to be strategically near to the venue and stage where the Halloween Costume Contest for kids would be held. As I went to the counter to order a couple of ventis of frappuccinos (chocolate for Gabby, and dark mocha shared by Tina and me) and a plate of sausage roll, Tina didn’t waste any second and prepared her stuffs to do Gabby’s face paint.

If you must know, Tina doesn’t have any formal training, whatsoever on doing make ups. In fact, she only began wearing them few weeks after she first met me (she’ll kill me for this!). Apparently, she’s doing great with her face and with Gabby’s, isn’t she? This proves that Tina has many skills and talents. My wife isn’t only a diligent Operating Room nurse, a dedicated mother, a passionate educator herself, but also a creative makeup artist in her own right! She even managed to work well with the face paint I bought from Toys R Us here despite it was far from the brands she told me to buy (supply of those things is rare in this part of Malaysia).

In character before he ate his lunch!

Gabby requested one of his favorites, Pizza Hut for lunch. We’re delighted with a pitcher of Mountain Dew, a small loaf of garlic bread, soup of the day and a large 7-cheese-pizza!

Pizza Hut's Seven Cheese Pizza : Romano, Monterey Jack, Parmesan, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Provolone, Mozzarella and Cheddar. So heavenly!

Gabby remains to be a purist when it comes to pizzas so he wants it nothing but cheese. This new offerring from Pizza Hut was welcoming to him and in fact, we all found it sublime that I am craving for another slice as I write this.

We finished lunch a few minutes prior to 1:30PM call time for all participants. We went back near Starbucks, confirmed Gabby’s attendance and got his number-tag. He was contestant # 6 out of 33 (or was it 34?) kiddie participants all in all.

His royal blue Chinese-inspired satin tunic was a hand-me-down costume from his eldest cousin, that was worn at our wedding reception almost 8 years ago. We only added a few accessories that Gabby chose himself from a store also in Queensbay Mall for him to look more like a Chinese pirate (uniquely wearing a Beijing Opera mask).

Each contestant was called, asked to walk on the ramp and introduce themselves a little and greet everyone a “Happy Halloween!”. It was the very first time we saw Gabby became shy on stage (read : he doesn’t have stage fright for he had won and placed in several declamation contests in his former school back home).

They paraded on the entire Ground floor before the winners’ names were announced.

He lost but nonetheless, we’re definite that he enjoyed the experience this year. Tina and I had fun too being with these kids! As token of participation, we’ll be issued after a week, a free 8R picture officially taken by Queensbay Mall photographer during the event.

Honestly, when Tina and I saw her and her props, we knew she deserves to be the contest’s grand winner, but this 10-year old girl geared as a ‘Halloween dinner table’ only bagged second place.

First place went to…

Tina and I told Gabby that he had done a good job on stage and made him feel our very own champion. He is and he’ll always be, of course!:)

Group shot!

One more time!

Gabby had fun, he even retained his face paint and costumes on until we reached home; except the fact that he only got candies and chocolates from the organizers of the event themselves because the shops and stores inside the mall didn’t prepare sweets like the way it’s done back home and else where.

How’s your Halloween?

Because obviously, we cannot visit cemeteries of our departed, we’ll just utter prayers for our late grandparents and relatives. It’s what we practice back home on top of trick or treating.

Jan

GELATISSIMO

By docgelo 12 Comments

Categories: FAMILY : LOVE KO 'TO and FOOD & MORE FOOD!
Tags: doc gelo, docgelo, family, food, food blog, foodie, gelatissimo, gelato, greenbelt, greenbelt 5, gurney drive, Ice cream, plaza gurney

Mocha Nut Crunch, Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Macadamia = Instant happiness!

A world is lonely without ice cream, is it not? It’s one of my comfort foods. What about you?

During my recent week-long days off back home, Tina, Gabby and I managed to dropped by our favorite malls in Makati and sampled a few flavors of gelato from Gelatissimo in Greenbelt 5.

With Gabby at the counter, I asked the crew of their bestsellers and one of them told me to try tasting first before making a choice. Everything looked so delicious but we wanted to order 3 flavors only on their biggest cup; we eneded up enjoying various chocolate-flavored gelato. It was like heaven in every scoop!

Look at Gabby’s smile with that cup of Italian gourmet ice cream; papasa bang endorser? *paging Gelatissimo*

It was Tina and Gabby who already gave it a shot from their TriNoma Mall branch a few months ago and liked it from then on.

There’s Gelatissimo branch also here in Penang, located at Plaza Gurney in Gurney Drive but I refused the chance to sample it for I find it a bit costly and so does its Manila counterpart. I guess, indulgence always has a price.

Now, I’m craving for some ice cream. I wish I have vanilla on the fridge.

And you?

Have a great week ahead! God bless.

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Oct

TRICK OR TREAT 2010

By docgelo 23 Comments

Categories: EVENTS and FAMILY : LOVE KO 'TO
Tags: doc gelo, docgelo, edu manzano, greenbelt, greenbelt 5, greenbelt 5 halloween, halloween, halloween 2010, halloween costume, halloween party, ocw, ofw, penang, pinoy abroad, preschool, trick or treat, trick or treating

One of the agonies of an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) like me is being physically absent in those moments that are supposed to be shared with the entire family.

But thanks to modern technology, those memories can reach you in a blink.

my 6-year-old son, Gabby is second from right, geared up as a scarecrow

This morning, my loving wifey, Tina immediately posted photos of our kid, Gabby in her facebook account. The pictures were taken from Gabby’s preschool Halloween Party.

She told me that they woke up at 5 in the morning, set up Gabby’s make up and dressed him up to the part for the 8AM kiddie party.

so there were ninja, pocahontas, glam girl, Gabby as scarecrow and lady vampire at Twinkle Toes Academy Inc. preschool Halloween Party 2010

And guess who won MOST CREATIVE HALLOWEEN COSTUME AWARD?

PANALO !!! Gabby with his preschool teachers, Teacher Ofie (Nursery) and Teacher Janet (Prep); not in photo Teacher Claire (Kinder)

Of course, GABBY! He’s been winning it for 2 years in a row!

Last year, he was the coolest Ninja…

Even Mr. Edu Manzano commented, “You look good!” 3x when we spotted him at Greenbelt 5 last year.

Can’t blame the guy; my son’s really cute, right? he he he

Way to go, Tina+Gabby!

Victory Party at 711? LOL!

I love you so much! Miss you!

See you in a month and half time here in Penang!

Mar

TINA+GABBY IN GELATONE’S POSTER

By docgelo 21 Comments

Categories: FAMILY : LOVE KO 'TO, FOOD & MORE FOOD! and HEADLINES
Tags: docgelo, family, family and living, food, food blog, food blogger, foodie, gelati, gelatone, greenbelt, greenbelt 3, Ice cream, Makati

Dear Ms. Tess, (owner of Gelatone)

Thank you so much for graciously asking me if you could use my family’s photo in GELATONE’s Anniversary Promo Photo Contest posters and standees. It’s our pleasure!

Continue to make one of the most flavorful and delicious gelati in town!

More Power to GELATONE and Congratulations on its 3RD YEAR!

Dear Kind Readers,

Whenever you’re in 2F of Greenbelt 3 in Ayala Center, Makati, I suggest you beat the summer heat with GELATONE’s tasteful gelati. Don’t forget to bring your cam and capture those gelato moments to join their contest. Thanks!

Let’s troop to Gelatone and enjoy scoopfuls of these…

Photo via Gelatone’s facebook.

PS: my family’s photo taken in Gelatone was posted in this blog entry –> click THIS

Oct

TRICK OR TREATING 2009

By docgelo 30 Comments

Categories: EVENTS and FAMILY : LOVE KO 'TO
Tags: children's party, doc gelo, docgelo, EVENTS, family, family and living, greenbelt, greenbelt 5, halloween, halloween party, Makati City, parties, party, trick or treat

Guess where we had fun the whole day today?

The queue was apparently looooong but heck, we were there to wait for our son to be registered and got his coupons for the participating high-end shops’ Halloween goodies.

We woke up at around 6AM without electricity and less rain but with strong winds. It was typhoon signal # 3 in Metro Manila since yesterday because Santi a.k.a. Mirinae had slammed via Quezon Province en route to Batangas thus hitting the capital and nearby provinces. Thankfully, it weakened into a tropical storm this afternoon and allowed the streets to be dry and the sun to show up.

Like Christmas, Halloween is much anticipated fun-filled event especially by kids like our own. Come hell, or high waters, it should be celebrated

Honestly, our 5-year-old son, Gabby initially wanted to wear his dream this Halloween. So weeks ago, his mom, Tina and I bought him a toque, an apron and a napkin as accessory for he wishes to be a chef someday. But when Tina got him a face paint kit from Market, Market 2 days ago, we decided for Gabby to wear his last year’s costume to his preschool party which was held yesterday morning, and to TRICK or TREATING today at a mall…

Grooming -hair and face-paint, by my lovely wife, Tina…

My youngest brother who reported to his work this morning somewhere in Makati texted me that it’s safe to go to Greenbelt 5 for there was no traffic and sky was getting clearer. So we didn’t waste time and headed off to G5.

SPOTTED :

We saw Mr. Edu Manzano at House of Obagi with someone who chose not to be photographed. We really appreciated his efforts of posing for our son for few sec and even told Gabby, “You look good!” 3x!!! - Now, I know Mr. Manzano’s sooo honest!

At GREYONE SOCIAL : Ninjas alike!

At ZARA : When Gabby approached their counter and handed in the coupon in exchange for their Halloween treats, the people of Zara were all smile at him. They admired him and his costume so much. We like Zara and we love their staff at G5 even more!

At HIVE : This furniture and interiors store’s staffs were also welcoming. Thank you for being kind to kids! May your sales double up in the coming days…

At YOH-GURT FROZ FRO-YO : The yogurt that tops our favorites was one of the sponsors

We became excited when we saw Pepper Lunch’s banner at G5. It’s high time for PL to sizzle it their way to Makati. I wish they’ll have Quezon City branch too. We’ve tried Pepper Lunch a few times already (and did some posts here) in Powerplant and Shangri la malls. Incidentally, we also passed by a shop that also features PL owner’s (Chuvaness) shirt line Heather Miss Grey.

At CROCS : Gabby smiled when he saw clones of the slippers he’s wearing …We also asked Gabby to pose near Rolex watch store that became a news item when it was robbed few days ago. It’s business as usual as if nothing happened.

Then at half hour past one in the afternoon, we ate lunch at John and Yoko (I’ll post it soon). After we chow down, we went to Glorietta to buy some supplies.

at greenbelt 5 halloween 2009

No tricks, just treats… trick or treat 2009

Sure, anyone can afford all these but not HAPPINESS that came with it.

Gabby’s SMILES and OUR FAMILY BONDING MOMENTS are simply priceless.

PS : Did I tell you that Gabby won the CUTEST KINDERGARTEN PUPIL award (note : not the scariest) in their preschool’s halloween party yesterday? I cannot blame them; our son is really adorable

Did you go trick or treating too? Happy Halloween!

Jul

GELATONE’S GELATO

By docgelo 14 Comments

I don’t know about you but regardless of the weather, ice cream is always one of my comfort foods.

Half hour before we went to Greenbelt Cinema 3 to watch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince yesterday (scroll down below for the post), our son Gabby was begging us requesting for ice cream. My wife Tina and I, as usual, were too weak to resist, we immediately gave in to his want.

Our immediate choice was to try Cold Rock Ice Creamery (from Australia) located at level 3 of Greenbelt 3 and it could have been our first time there. But when Tina was about to enter, I saw a posting at its glass doors prohibiting cameras inside. Why Cold Rock? Don’t you want free advertisement without frills on my blog? Well, whatever your reason for such regulation I wouldn’t care less, and it wasn’t our lost but yours…:) One establishment’s loss is another’s gain…Cest la vie!

So we had to go a level down the escalator and settle for an incomparable ice cold treat BETTER THAN ORDINARY ICE CREAM - what else but gelato from GELATONE!

It wasn’t our first time to try Gelatone but it took us a while to go back. We already tasted some flavors of this Italian frozen dessert (called gelato) a couple of years back with our friends of more than 16 years who then were back in Manila for vacation. Gelatone since then, serves cold yummy treats but their small dining place is warm and perfect for small conversations between friends and families

Even though I didn’t notice any apparent change in its interiors, it remained simple and comfy all these years.

Fair service + best gelato = more than enough reason to keep coming back to Gelatone!

Customers have options in Gelatone - Order gelato outside on a cup or cone and off you go, or to have it as dine-in, just choose the flavor from the frozen glass stall outside and a wait-staff will bring it to your table. If the order is for dine-in, a choco-stick will be served with the scoops on cups, but if it’s a dine-in gelato on a cone, the cone is also served with the cup. Get it? Of course, LOL. BTW, they also serve pasta and some sandwiches.

The hardest part in Gelatone : selecting from the wide array of flavors of gelato! Looks like everything is a must-try!

Don’t get me wrong because I still LOVE regular ICE CREAM even YOGURT too. I can’t imagine a world without them For a kid-at-heart but a huge man-at-stomach like me, these desserts mean HAPPINESS! I am not bias with any of them however I’ve learned long before that gelato has less air than ordinary ice cream, making it more compact so what you’ll get is more of its delectable goodness compared with regular ice cream; it’s just all in the process of making this yummy dessert.

We tried these flavors for dine-in yesterday….

Gabby had his scoop of BUBBLE GUM….

Our son enjoyed this flavor he even licked drank its last drop! On the opposite table where we were seated inside Gelatone, a kid with his European-looking mom, was also savoring the same flavor. Does it really has that appeal on kids? It tasted like, well, Bazooka-bubble gum the way it should be. At least the bliss that it brings to our own kid is priceless.

I ordered a scoop of this gelato of HAZEL NUT with DARK CHOCOLATE called BACIO NERO. Pangalan pa lang ng flavor, ang sarap na! Excuse me, I’m drooling as I post this, I need to wipe my keyboard, LOL.

I like chocolates so much that I wouldn’t pass an opportunity to enjoy it. There was no regret in ordering this, it’s a superb palatal stimulus but I was happier to taste Tina’s choice…

FRUTTI di BOSCO or MIXED BERRIES SORBET was a winner among the 3 scoops we had. It can deliciously clean your palate. I love the berry-flavor that’s neither sour nor sweet; it was just heavenly, lol.

Each scoop of gelatone costs PhP 100 inclusive of VAT if ordered in cups and + 10% service charge for dine-in.

These are proofs of how my family happily spent our thirty minutes before we headed to Hogwarts yesterday

GELATONE, Level 2, Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati City.

Jun

MALL RATS (part two)

By docgelo 2 Comments

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Ayala Malls, Glorietta, greenbelt, malls, north edsa, pinas, Pinoy, trinoma

After a nice recharging and relaxing Saturday afternoon in Makati, we wrongly decided to spend the following day-Father’s Day at SM North EDSA. Why in the world there of all places? Honestly, we don’t have other reasons but curiosity of that newly built SKY GARDEN and SKY DOME with the freshly renovated SM City Annex.

I had an overdose of that mall in Quezon City when I was in Med school. Every after platings (or quizzes in layman’s) and exams, my classmates and I usually go there to unwind (for the lack of better word). It’s a luxury for medical students at that time (I don’t know now) to have a break inside a mall to have coffee, or watch movies or simply to stroll around after an exhausting duty or examination. I had my four years of med school frequenting SM City North EDSA and I think I had enough of it, even after I saw the changes they’ve done with it, for improvement, to be at par (admit or deny it) with the Ayala malls that are so eco-friendly and our favorites but sadly, all that we saw in SM City didn’t meet my expectations.

Blogosphere, here’s the new SM City North EDSA Sky Dome and Sky Garden

If you haven’t seen it for whatever reason (you’re not missing the world, don’t worry, LOL), it’s a multipurpose theater on top of a carpark (do you like that?!) fronting EDSA and North Avenue (with all the emitted pollution from vehicles in those highways), what’s weird uncommon with it is the presence of a man-made hill with walk way designed after an unfamiliar pattern somewhat like UFO (?) LOL, with fountains, man-made stream and few art whatever. To be frank with what I feel about it, instead of providing cool green environment, it was rather warmer and humid despite the effort of being an eco-friendly SM mall. Ang init, sobra! and I cannot imagine when storm comes, how will the Sky garden and Sky Dome tolerate the pours? I hope they anticipated flood control in those new “attractions”. I’m sorry but I’m not really into it. I don’t get the idea of having a garden on top of a car park in the middle of polluted EDSA. Ang init, talaga! Perhaps if they have airconditioned it, I will think otherwise.

There are few opened establishments such as coffee shops and ice cream parlors along the covered trail of the Sky Garden but these shops are so small with minimal seating capacity except for very few restaurants there. Starbucks Coffee (right) at the Sky Garden is yet to be finished and a promising resto called Persian Grill (left) has the same status. These two food places are located in the man-made stream at the Sky Garden that looks like this…

What ALMOST impressed me was the renovation of the SM City Annex… If you’re familiar with how it looked few decades ago, look how it changed…

The renovation of the SM City Annex was close to my taste had it not have heavy-looking stairs and escalators. I got dizzy by just looking at them.

Perhaps it’s just my preference and bias with Glorietta, Greenbelt, TriNoma and Shangri La malls. But it also proves that NOT all HUGE are GREAT.

Jun

MALL RATS (part one)

By docgelo Leave a Comment

Categories: FAMILY : LOVE KO 'TO
Tags: Ayala Malls, Bonifacio High Street, family, greenbelt, greenbelt malls, Makati City, malls, pinas, Pinoy, Serendra, sto nino chapel, sto nino de paz chapel, trinoma

We’re bias with Ayala malls (other than Shangri La mall in Mandaluyong City – we love it there too!), Glorietta and Greenbelt to be specific. We also frequent TriNoma (less the crowd) and also like Bonifacio High Street (less the humidity) and Serendra. We preferred them over other malls in the Metro for some reasons.

I don’t know about you but it’s very important for us for a mall to have clean toilets even if these are pay lounges or pay comfort rooms. Toilets though public should provide utmost comfort with adequate essentials (hence they are called comfort rooms, right?). It troubles us when we experience comfort rooms that are unsightly and poorly kept by the mall management. We don’t mind paying PhP 10 per pax for the use of such amenities if you can be comfortable with your needs. Have you been to the public toilet of Serendra that is so spick and span with centralized air conditioning complete with a mini-landscaping of greens at its center? It’s really wow for a public place, similar to well-maintained 5-star-hotel toilets.

The other thing that invites us to frequent a mall other than comfortable toilets is when a shopping complex is eco-friendly. I personally like the way Ayala malls management value nature. Those lush greens and trees in Greenbelt Park that embrace the Chapel of Sto Niño de Paz is always a relaxing sight that will deviate you temporarily from the hassles of the urban living.

Whenever we’re in Makati to spend a weekend, we rarely forget to drop by at Sto Niño de Paz chapel in Greenbelt. We like the simplicity of the domed chapel amidst the man-made waters with lots of kois swimming with some feathered animals.

When commercialism communes with nature and God Himself effortlessly, what more can you ask for? It’s almost surreal.

Can you blame us why we like it here?

Mar

ALIVE, ALIVE!

By docgelo Leave a Comment

Categories: EVENTS
Tags: Alive, Ayala center Makati, Enchong Dee, greenbelt, greenbelt 5, jake cuenca, Jericho Rosales, KC Concepcion, lens man, Mark Nicdao, Phoemela Baranda, Photo exhibit, photographer, Regine Velasquez, Richard Gomez, Sarah Geronimo, Tessa Prieto Valdes

We thanked the Lord this Sunday morning at the Chapel of Sto. Nino Paz in Greenbelt, Ayala Center, Makati.

Then few steps from the chapel is Greenbelt 5 Fashion Walk where the exhibit of photographer Mark Nicdao called Alive was held. Although it looked like that his photo show is over, but since it’s still there, we still got the chance to see it.

Those black & white photos of local celebrities in more than 6 feet each were really amazing. Some photos really deserved a second or even a third look.

Phoemela Baranda is effortlessly sexy…

Sarah Geronimo is blooming muse of her generation.
I can even hear her gorgeous voice echoes from her photo…
It’s simply surreal…

My wife Tina was struck with Jake Cuenca’s photo.
His scar on his upper lip was clearly apparent, perhaps the photographer wanted to capture everything without pretentions…

Ms. Tessa Prieto-Valdes in her element. Flamboyant but natural in her photo…
I like her when she said in one of her inteviews that she also goes to Baclaran & Divisoria for shopping..

Regine Velasquez looks like a true goddess in her photo.
Aint no music note high enough for a venus-looking diva like Regine…
While Enchong Dee proves he’s in true athletic form as swimming is his second skin.

KC Concepcion’s photos beside Jericho’s. Their photos exude emotions.

Goma’s photo beside Regine’s…

And my son Gabby was instructed by Tina to goof around Sarah G.’s photo as if he’s trying to win or at least kiss her. We wish!

I confess that beside being a violinist or a chef, a lens-man’s work like that of Mark Nicdao is also one of my frustrations. If only I had not went through studying human life & diseases, I would have an Alive-like exhibit as well.
Dream on!
Everything happens for a reason.
Sigh.
At least I’m happy with what I’m doing. Really.

STRENGTH. BALANCE. PASSION according to Mr. Nicdao’s one man show will keep us all ALIVE.
Sign out!

Feb

COLOR ME NORI

By docgelo Leave a Comment

Categories: FAMILY : LOVE KO 'TO, FOOD & MORE FOOD! and whatever
Tags: art, califonia maki, california roll, ceramic, ceramic art, color me mine, family, food, food drinks, foodie, greenbelt, greenbelt 5, japanese fastfood, japanese restaurant, japanese rice, john & yoko, john and yoko, Life, malls, marvin agustin, omelet, painting, pottery, restaurant, rice, Shangri-la, Sumo Sam

It was the schedule for us to claim our personally painted ceramic now glazed after 10 days at Color Me Mine in Shangri-la mall. As we were amazed how our own ceramic art of a small candle holder was turned into a little masterpiece after being subjected to an oven kiln and glazing, we decided again to paint another ceramic; this time a cross between a bowl and a plate, and sat for more than 3 hours doing color application with brushes. Here are photos of our 2nd attempt at being “pottery-inclined artists”…

We’ll get the glazed and baked finished product on February 21st, and I’ll try to post here the difference of before-and-after thing…For now, here’s the BEFORE photo…

That was Gabby’s right hand imprint…

Just prior to enjoying another ceramic painting, I brought Tina and Gabby to Sumo Sam japanese restaurant at the 6th level of Shangri-la mall for an early dinner. It was our 3rd time to eat there but nothing has changed since the 1st. What disappointed me was that I expected change of something from the menu, perhaps with the price to no avail. Or was it a plain and simple consequence for being headstrong to something?

Taste of the food was really OK except that I think the menu was atrociously expensive compared to others which serve similar plates. I guess most who have tried dining at Sumo Sam will agree that other jap resto is far comparable but this one’s quite pricey. We haven’t tried eating at John and Yoko at Greenbelt 5, it’s Sumo Sam’s sister company for it’s also partly-owned by Marvin Agustin (yup, Jolina’s former reel partner). Do we have enough reasons to try it one day? Will it be any different from Sumo Sam ? Or only an upscale version? Anyway, here are what we munched at Sumo Sam, Shangri-la mall…

California rolls : yummy with kani shreds but pricey at PhP 218.

Seafood Omelet Rice : I so like jap rice but Sumo Sam’s costly at PhP 228.

Chicken Teriyaki : tender yes, but limited slices at PhP 228.

Green Iced Teas; bottomless at PhP 98 each. (heard that John & Yoko’s has also a BLUE ICED TEA)…

And a generous scoop of Ube Ice Cream requested by Gabby; served with cherry & whipped cream of which price was nearly a pint at PhP 88.

So will you try to bring yourself to Sumo Sam just as I did, Not twice but thrice?!!!
On the second thought…

Apr

ASTRO’S DINNER TREAT

By docgelo Leave a Comment

Categories: EVENTS, FOOD & MORE FOOD! and whatever
Tags: astro silverio, astrobal silverio, cum laude, dinner, gratitude, greenbelt, oyster, professor, rockefeller greenbelt 3, SACI

My wife and I were invited by Astro (SACI/UDMC’s 1st cum laude, BSN graduate 2008) a few weeks back to dine with some of his closest friends for a post-graduation celebration of his victory in his college years. Due to their board exam review schedule, the dinner was postponed to a later date (April 10 instead of April 02).

With us were Nicole & Carlo, Kristel & Ado who are also our former nursing students, now reviewing for the local boards come June 1, & 2.

They have chosen

a quiet cozy steak and seafood restaurant located at the 2/F of Greenbelt 3.

The interiors of Mr. Rockefeller is made up of washed wooden panels,

treated oyster shell displays,

wooden hinges

made even more relaxing with dim lights coupled with good food with tag lines written not only on their menu but even on their soy dishes as eat oysters, love longer.

I surrendered to my wife’s choice of plate to eat. We both ordered roast beef served with mashed potato. For appetizers, they ordered buffalo wings and a certain salad with honey-tasting dressing. Our host and his friends ordered steak served with seasoned rice for their main dishes.

Kristel and Nicole were so sweet to walk from Greenbelt to Glorietta just to buy Astro and my wife Tina bouquets of flowers.

Thanks Astro ! And thank you Kristel, Ado, Carlo and Nicole for being courteous and grateful as you used to be in classroom. May God bless you with licenses and success in all of your endeavors.

Here are our photos – proofs that we all enjoyed that evening…

Astro with his mentors… Thanks for the dinner ! We enjoyed your company.

from R-L : Kristel, Astro, the blogger and his wife Tina, Ado, Carlo & Nicole

The author of the blog and his wife after the dinner…

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