Cafe Breton with Jay and Dan

I missed Jay so much I invited him to a coffee date last Saturday night. He brought along Dan, whom I was looking forward to meeting.

Jay and Dan

I didn't want to go far from home so we went to Technohub. I decided against the usual coffee options (Starbucks, CBTL) and invited them to Cafe Breton.

Caramel Coffee

Nutella Crepe

I had their decaf caramel coffee and crepe a la nutella. The coffee tasted a little like Starbucks' Caramel Macchiato. It had the perfect blend of bitter and sweet for me. :) I love love loved their crepe. I love the texture. So light and moist. I think Cafe Breton has the best crepes.

Jay's Capuccino

Jay had the cappuccino and Dan had the strawberries and cream shake. They both liked their drinks.

Jay and I did some catching up, and of course we had a lot of laughs. I'm so happy for Jay. I also enjoyed meeting Dan. He seems like a genuinely nice person. :D

Cafe Mary Grace (Podium) with Ate Kring

I met with Ate Kring Last Thursday in Podium because I needed to borrow her Sablay for graduation. We ate in Cafe Mary Grace to catch up too.

I was so excited because the Cafe Mary Grace nearest my place is the one in Trinoma, and it was always full. It's been years since I ate there and I have very fond memories of my experience there. I was thrilled to see the branch in Podium wasn't as crowded.

Ate Kring ordered the read and Kesong Puti for our appetizer. This is good for a light snack.The kesong puti dip was very tasty because of the infused olive oil that went with it. The bread was good, but when it was served it was a little cold.

Ate Kring had the seafood pasta with cream sauce.  The serving portion was quite big, just enough for one hungry person. I liked that they didn't skimp on the sahog.

Ate Kring also had the Apple Tea. She seemed to really like it.

I had the Cream Dory Pasta with Saffron Cream Sauce. Honestly, I didn't taste any saffron there. The cream dory had too much salt in it, and the lemon juice was a bit too much for me. The pasta texture was cooked al dente though.

Ate Kring and I had a nice time catching up. However, the flies in the area really bothered us. I hope they do something about this.

Red Garlic Cafe Bistro with the Castro Sisters

Last Wednesday I really wanted to go out and get some comfort food after a long and tiring day at the office. Thankfully Archon Karen and Kacel were available to binge with me.

I wanted Japanese food but didn't want to go far. I also wanted to go somewhere new. I then remembered that I wanted to go to Red Garlic for the longest time but never had the chance to do so, so this was my chance.

Red Garlic is in Katipunan Extension, near Banapple. It has a very diverse menu consisting mostly of comfort food. They have sushi, sandwiches, steak, pasta, and dessert! I like their menu, but I'm confused as to why the restaurant is called Red Garlic. They didn't seem to have any garlic themed food.

The popper is served in a shot glass with cream cheese

We started off with their Jalapeno Poppers, which we got for free because I used my CitiBank Credit Card.

 Jalapeno Poppers

We just gobbled these things up! Very nice presentation. The pepper had just the right amount of spiciness for me and the cream cheese balanced the spicy flavor. The wrapper had a nice crispy texture. It was deep fried but it wasn't too oily.

Tazmanian Devil Maki

Eel, egg, crab, and shrimp inside 

I had the Tazmanian Devil Maki. It had eel (my favorite), egg, crab, and shrimp in it. The maki was fried and I liked that I didn't taste any oil in it. The rice could use a little more vinegar in my opinion, and the eel was a little dry, but I still enjoyed eating it.

Do you think I can finish this?? 

This is good enough for three people, or one starving person.

The maki was super BIG, by the way. Because of this, I wasn't able to eat it like a maki should be eaten (whole). I had to get little pieces of the maki with a spoon and fork. They have very big servings in Red Garlic. It's better to go here when you're in a group.

Kacel, me and Archon Karen

Archon Karen had the Chicken Sandwich. It was served with fries. She seemed to like the sandwich. I tried the fries and they were very tasty. The potatoes were fresh and I likes the coating.

 

Kacel had the lasagna. She couldn't finish it because of the super big serving!  I tried it too. It was good, but nothing special. A little too sweet for my taste, but I liked that it was cheesy.

The menu items here range from 250-500. Quite pricey, but worth it because of the big servings and good quality. The place looks and feels nice too. It's a perfect place to have a long meal and chat with friends. As for the three of us, we came in at about 6pm and went out at around 9:40pm, and we didn't even notice the time :)) I guess that's what happens when you have good food and good company :)

Holy Week 2013 - Time with Family and Friends

Too lazy to write. I'll just post the pictures for now. Will update soon. :D 

Olivia Trattoria Ristorante

Tagaytay Highlands Steakhouse

Holy Week 2013 - Kerygma Lenten Recollection

Last Holy Week I decided to join the Kerygma Lenten Recollection hosted by The Feast Laguna in the Southern Luzon Hospital and Medical Center. Admission was free and they had a good lineup of speakers including Rissa Kawpeng, Obet Cabrillas, and of course, Jon Escoto. It went on for three days (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 8:30-12:00 nn). My friend Mae went with me.  

The stage

It was fun and so refreshing! We did worship, and listened to powerful talks and touching sharings. Many things were discussed but two topics really struck me: Love and Forgiveness. 

Love 

This is what I learned the hard way about love: You cannot love others if you do not love yourself. This particular phrase had been said many times over by so many different people but it took me twenty five years to learn it. However, this statement is incomplete. The recollection made me realize that you cannot truly, completely love yourself if you do not accept God's love.

I say accept because God's love has always been there. It is unconditional. It is all-knowing, all-present, and all-powerful. God loves us not because of anything we have done or have not done. It is because of His grace. It is simply because He is a loving God. Isn't this just amazing? We don't even need to do anything, and He just loves us! No need to make yourself prettier, or thinner, or pretend to laugh at jokes, or go on countless errands. No need to prove anything. Amazing!

God's love will always be there. There is nothing we can do or not do to make Him love us less. There is also nothing we can do or not do to make Him love us more. God's love is perfect. We just have to accept it. Once we do, we can truly appreciate our value and be able to fully love ourselves. 

Forgiveness

I have a very good memory. It is both a gift and a curse. It is a gift because a good memory comes in handy in my studies. It is a curse because my good memory had been a source of conflict in my relationships and a source of pain for me. I sometimes even pretend to not remember some things to maybe trick my brain but of course this doesn't work. It is because of my good memory that I find it hard to forgive someone who hurt me. Thankfully, I learned a lot about how to forgive during the recollection.

I love how Mr. Obet Cabrillas preached about forgiveness. He did it through humor, but with powerful, striking words. The audience was laughing but were also saying "ouch" because natatamaan kami. Haha. 

This is what I learned: the key to forgiving someone is to set it in the right perspective. Forgiving is actually a selfish act. You are doing it more for yourself than the other person. It helps you move on. Also, forgiveness it not just about you and the other person. It is about you and God too. You are accountable to God for your acts. Therefore, you should do the right thing and forgive. In the same way, that other person is accountable to God for his acts. God will take care of him. You don't have to think and obsess about whether or not that person "will get what he deserves". This is not for us to worry about. God will take care of it. Lastly, God is accountable to us. He knows all our pain. He knows how difficult it is to forgive. He will take care of us, and He will reward us eventually for this act of kindness.

Prusisyon

I am so thankful for being able to attend the recollection. I learned so much, and I feel stronger. This was just what I needed. Bar exams are fast approaching and I need all the strength I can get!!! :) Pray for me, will you? Thanks! :)