Busy, diplomatic, spend-crazy week
It's been such a trip this week. I started it off real mellow then on Tuesday, my favorite dive shop called up and said they had my watch available. Oh joy, oh joy! My new dive watch! Then it was off to dinner with some friends from the embassy at the Shangri-la for a most scrumptious buffet.
I arrived a tad earlier than expected (in this town, you have to overcompensate for fear of traffic going bad) so I decided to walk around Glorietta and ended up at Rustans. Long story short, I managed to spend my money with much gusto on a new pair of Kenneth Coles and an I-cartrip for my ipod (there goes my Christmas money).
Dinner was fabulous but the week was only starting.
The day after, I was invited to go to a Thanksgiving dinner being held by a nice couple from the U.S. embassy. The invitation was for 3:00pm. 3:00pm? Who has dinner at 3:00pm? Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find an assortment of food, wine, and a really nice selection of beer and other alcoholic beverages (which I made a beeline for shortly after arriving) spread out on the table (the turkey was still slowly cooking at this point but the smell was intoxicating).
By the time the turkey came out of the oven, it was indeed evening and we had chatted, drank and ate the appetizers with the passing of time. And after the turkey, the cranberry sauce (I know it's hard to get cranberry sauce here but what they got was absolutely delicious) and the stuffing, it was time for dessert.
And boy, what a dessert! We had apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, suman (sticky rice with sugar and coconut), mango pie, ummm I can't remember the rest cause there were just too many. Suffice to say, it was a very delectable evening.
The next night we went to this quaint little place called Enoteca in Mandaluyong to have dinner . Now if you live in Metro Manila, you'll think where in Mandaluyong? Are there any good restaurants there? That was the same thing I thought when we passed by roads and went through dark alleys that looked like they had muggers waiting in every corner.
It was surprising to find this small Italian wine cellar cum restaurant tucked away in a little corner of the road. Needless to say, people have to know of this place to go there because you won't see much foot traffic in that area. It was packed inside. If you didn't have a reservation, you wouldn't have much chance of getting a table.
Once inside, you will immediately be assaulted by the sights and scents of the place, it's like being transported to some Italian villa in Tuscany complete with a huge piece of cheese that looked like a wheel and several dried meat. And it being a wine cellar, wine was flowing from everywhere. The best part of it was it was an inexpensive place (say around the price range of $10 usd per person) for almost unlimited wine and antipasti (we actually just stood up and got bottles from the wall and poured ourselves the wine).
After dinner, our friend had made reservations for us at this place called the Club Mwah which was near the restaurant. Now, if you've ever seen the shows in Las Vegas and combine it with the shows in Bangkok, then you probably have an idea of what I'm talking about.
I was skeptical at first, I thought "oh not another gay show." (I'm talking about the comedy clubs that have popped up in Metro Manila with gay hosts that sing and make lewd jokes, most of which are really not at all entertaining).
I must say I wasn't blown away so to speak but it was quite refreshing to see that it really was a genuine attempt to make the guests feel entertained. It was like watching a mini-Broadway show. I never knew men (who are now transformed into a more feminine form) could be that flexible until I saw this show. And the comic relief was doing much better than most of what I've seen in so-called comedy bars.
All in all, it was a most fullfilling week for me and I'm looking forward to just sleeping over the long weekend that is coming up and diving the next weekend. I can't wait.
I arrived a tad earlier than expected (in this town, you have to overcompensate for fear of traffic going bad) so I decided to walk around Glorietta and ended up at Rustans. Long story short, I managed to spend my money with much gusto on a new pair of Kenneth Coles and an I-cartrip for my ipod (there goes my Christmas money).
Dinner was fabulous but the week was only starting.
The day after, I was invited to go to a Thanksgiving dinner being held by a nice couple from the U.S. embassy. The invitation was for 3:00pm. 3:00pm? Who has dinner at 3:00pm? Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find an assortment of food, wine, and a really nice selection of beer and other alcoholic beverages (which I made a beeline for shortly after arriving) spread out on the table (the turkey was still slowly cooking at this point but the smell was intoxicating).
By the time the turkey came out of the oven, it was indeed evening and we had chatted, drank and ate the appetizers with the passing of time. And after the turkey, the cranberry sauce (I know it's hard to get cranberry sauce here but what they got was absolutely delicious) and the stuffing, it was time for dessert.
And boy, what a dessert! We had apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, suman (sticky rice with sugar and coconut), mango pie, ummm I can't remember the rest cause there were just too many. Suffice to say, it was a very delectable evening.
The next night we went to this quaint little place called Enoteca in Mandaluyong to have dinner . Now if you live in Metro Manila, you'll think where in Mandaluyong? Are there any good restaurants there? That was the same thing I thought when we passed by roads and went through dark alleys that looked like they had muggers waiting in every corner.
It was surprising to find this small Italian wine cellar cum restaurant tucked away in a little corner of the road. Needless to say, people have to know of this place to go there because you won't see much foot traffic in that area. It was packed inside. If you didn't have a reservation, you wouldn't have much chance of getting a table.
Once inside, you will immediately be assaulted by the sights and scents of the place, it's like being transported to some Italian villa in Tuscany complete with a huge piece of cheese that looked like a wheel and several dried meat. And it being a wine cellar, wine was flowing from everywhere. The best part of it was it was an inexpensive place (say around the price range of $10 usd per person) for almost unlimited wine and antipasti (we actually just stood up and got bottles from the wall and poured ourselves the wine).
After dinner, our friend had made reservations for us at this place called the Club Mwah which was near the restaurant. Now, if you've ever seen the shows in Las Vegas and combine it with the shows in Bangkok, then you probably have an idea of what I'm talking about.
I was skeptical at first, I thought "oh not another gay show." (I'm talking about the comedy clubs that have popped up in Metro Manila with gay hosts that sing and make lewd jokes, most of which are really not at all entertaining).
I must say I wasn't blown away so to speak but it was quite refreshing to see that it really was a genuine attempt to make the guests feel entertained. It was like watching a mini-Broadway show. I never knew men (who are now transformed into a more feminine form) could be that flexible until I saw this show. And the comic relief was doing much better than most of what I've seen in so-called comedy bars.
All in all, it was a most fullfilling week for me and I'm looking forward to just sleeping over the long weekend that is coming up and diving the next weekend. I can't wait.
posted by edmundsyap at 6:24 PM
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