Photowalk: INTRAMUROS

Intramuros (Latin, “within the walls”) is the oldest district and historic core of the City of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Also called the Walled City, the original citadel of Manila was the seat of government when the Philippines were acomponent realm of the Spanish Empire. Districts beyond the walls were referred as the extramuros of Manila, meaning “outside the walls”.

 

Week in Photos (January 29 – February 4)

This week was mainly spent on catching up. Catching up with friends, celebrations, and fitness goals.

 

January 29: Second session of our self-imposed Wellness Wednesday. We worked hard all right! And more people joined the group as well. Here’s to hoping we get to sustain this.

 

January 30: Last working day of the week because tomorrow is the celebration of the Chinese New Year. Caught up with Allan over Starbucks coffee (their new drink btw – Chestnut Macchiato – is good, try it!). Met up with Timmy and chatted ’til wee hours. We never run out of stuff to talk about.

 

January 31: Brunch at Slice N’ Dice because we ended up waking up just a little before noon. It had been ages since I last ate here and I actually missed their baked tahong. Noms! Watched a PBA game at Araneta Coliseum and our team won. Go Ginebra! Lol

 

February 1: Welcoming the new month with an out-of-town getaway. We drove up to Tagaytay to celebrate Jo and Neri’s birthdays. Before going to our hotel, we had lunch at Breakfast at Antonio’s. (Yummy food! Watch out for a separate entry.) We ended up checking in to our hotel at a little before 4pm because traffic was freaking horrible. Ugh!

 

February 2: It was definitely not Tagaytay weather when we woke up. The sun was in full force and our hotel pool looked very inviting. Too bad I was feeling sick so I didn’t get the chance to have a quick dip. Before heading back to Manila, we stocked up on local goodies from the market and filled our grumbling tummies with bulalo goodness. As expected, traffic was still disgustingly horrible. Ugh!

 

February 3: I was feeling horrible when I woke up so I decided to call in sick at work. Spent the day alternating between napping and watching old movies. And I got a taste of one of the weirdest tasting ice cream I’ve had in my life, so far. It’s apparently made of carabao milk with bits of kesong puti. All it tasted to me was frozen margarine. Blech!

 

February 4: I was feeling a bit better so I went back to work armed with my trusty calamansi juice. For further reinforcement, I filled it with lemon slices. Take that, Vitamin C! LOL. I attended choir rehearsal even if I was hacking like crazy because I missed last week’s practice. Gotta hustle!

 

 

Week in Photos (January 22-28, 2014)

The other day, I was talking to my friends and telling them how amazed I am that January is already gone (upon writing, it’s already the 4th of February). And they all go “What? January was soooo slow! It felt like forever!”. I honestly feel the complete opposite, this month just zoomed by so quick. So clearly, time is indeed relative. Anyway… on to my weekly recap.

 

January 22: It was a busy, busy day. I had an early start and prepared my packed lunch. Today’s menu was chicken adobo (which turned out yummy, can I just say hehe). Meetings re: Kammerchor February performances were done today and boy, February looks like a busy month! Then my teammate told me about Chips Ahoy! with Reese’s and I just gad to go to S&R and buy a pack. Peanut butter is my weakness.

 

Had our first running session of the year headed by our personal coach, Allan. He blogs about running at http://www.runfreemanila.com (Go check him out!) Post-workout meal was at Pasta Roni. Yummy and filling food that actually tastes and feels healthy. Well, healthy if you avoid all the cream-based goodness.

 

January 23: Speaking of peanut butter being my weakness, my teammate pulled out this butter flavored peanut butter. Didn’t taste very different from the usual PB but it was still good. Has dinner at Breakfast in Bed and had the saddest Eggs Benedict I’ve ever had in my lifetime. LOL. Tried to down it with beer but realized I don’t like alcohol that much anymore so I switched to my usual mug of brewed coffee.

 

January 24: I am so proud of myself because I managed to get out of bed early to prepare my packed lunch of fried chicken and sautéed veggies. Took a break from work to chill at Luna Café, one of the newest chill spot at BGC. I had their longganisa pandesal which was really really good but a tad bit expensive at P160 a pop. Met up with Lorraine and we walked all the way to SM Aura. It was actually my first time there and they have interesting albeit expensive food choices.

 

January 25: Slept over (Friday night) at CGS ‘coz we stayed up too late watching The Book Thief. Woke up early to prepare breakfast: fried rice, scrambled eggs and tuyo. Yummmmmm! Trooped all the way to Trinoma because K needed to run some errands. Late lunch at Oki Oki where I had my usual Crab Omelette Ramen. A very odd topping for a ramen but it works for me, haha.

 

January 26: Stayed home all day. Lately, Sundays has been stay-at-home-days. Come lunchtime, I decided to pe a pig and ate ice cream with my Chips Ahoy! cookies. BAD MOVE! I had to cancel my date with Timmy because I didn’t feel so good after pigging out on sweets.

 

January 27: Yesterday’s mistakes are today’s regrets. LOL. The icecream-cookie combo yesterday now officially made me sick. I’ve been sniffing and hacking all day, eeeeewwwww! My voice was also cracking so I had sick people’s food: noodles, orange juice and tea.

 

January 28: Had lunch at Relik as part of our monthly team fostering. I had the Grilled Pork Belly with Salsa Verde and it was so good. The java rice was a little too oily for my taste so I didn’t finish it all. We also ordered Chorisig (Chorizo sisig) for sharing and it was also very good. Tasty and spicy, just the way I like it. For dessert, we had cinnamon churros with caramel sauce for dipping.

 

After work, I met up with Lorraine and Ren. Finally, Inday’s New Year’s dinner! We had dinner at Kichitora, and my ramen was sooooo good! I especially loved my egg with melty yolk. We moved to Starbucks after filling up on the Japanese goodness and we talked and gossiped and caught up like crazy. Here’s to hoping for more dinner dates this year! 🙂

 

 

Week in Photos (January 15-21, 2014)

Wow! January is almost over! Is it just me or do you also feel like we’re all running out of time? Sometimes, it seems as if there’s just not enough time in the world for all the things that we want to do.

After saying that, let me just say that my past week seemed too boring. LOL. Like there was not much to do. Though I knew in my heart that I have lots of stuff that needs to be done but I am putting off indeterminately.

 

 

January 15: Sleepless nights are bugging me again. That usually means doubling up on the caffeine intake: so aside from the usual (double dose) coffee, green apple comes to the rescue. Lately, I’ve been favoring green apples over the red ones. I don’t know why, but maybe I’m just liking their tanginess. During dinners, I have the weirdest cravings. Case in point, I wanted Jollibee spaghetti and lumpiang shanghai. Oh evil junk, why are they so good?!? Then when I got home after work, I spent more than four hours cleaning the house. Something’s wrong with me…

 

January 16: Received the official invitation from SENATE to sing in one of their sessions. I AM SO EXCITED!!! LOL. The choir has opened up some opportunities for me that I never thought I would come across with. On February alone, we have two singing gigs. That is awesome, but also means we need to put in more time for rehearsals. Phew! My team at work have regular weekly meetings. I casually mentioned that I am liking Starbucks’ full leaf teas lately so we decided to hold our meeting there. We all ordered tea, hence our catch-up being dubbed as a TEAm Meeting. Witty!

 

January 17: This Friday is painfully boring. Peppered with lots of junk goodies. Reese’s peanut butter cups are my ultimate favorite chocolates. Anything with peanut butter, I would gladly devour. KFC’s chicken is also one of my favorite fried chicken in all the fried chickens out there. Fuuuuuuu! I’m making myself hungry. 😦

 

January 18: I finally had the time to go the mall and check out home appliances. Bit the bullet and got a Condura refrigerator. You don’t understand how much this makes me happy! LOL. Spent most of the day walking around Megamall and came home tired I just wanted to plop down my bed which looks like an explosion of prints, hahaha! And if you are keen, you gotta try that drink. It’s like drinking wine without the alcohol content. It’s pretty nice.

 

January 19: Most of my day was wasted in bed, watching random Youtube videos. I just couldn’t resist my blanket. It’s soooo soooo soft! It’s so fluffy and soft and so warm haha! Then I finally tried this tea from Human Nature. It’s good, definitely tastes healthy. And while watching flip top battles (I know, random! haha), I painted my nails this cute pink color. SO NOT ME!!!

 

January 20: I had to work the 2pm-11pm shift because I was waiting for the SM guys to deliver my fridge. FINALLY! I have a new fridge!!! Hello, healthy living! OR NOT. Haha! But I’ll definitely be cooking again and I will try my very best to eat healthier. Allan came back to work after a week of being sick and he misses me so much he just showers me with fruits. LOL. Seriously though, everyone’s giving me fruits today. Weird…

 

January 21: Because I have a fridge now, I woke up pretty early to go to the wet market and buy fresh goodies that I will be cooking all throughout the week. I finally brought packed lunch again after a very long time. And people find me weird for loving okra so much. I don’t know man, I love that shit! LOL. But maybe not as much as I love sriracha. Hahaha! I put it on everything! Even on my siopao which was my dinner that day.

 

Then I had dessert at our usual hangout place: Breakfast in Bed. Brownie à la mode. I liked the brownie and the vanilla ice cream, but I feel like the chocolate syrup was an overkill. Diabetes!!!

 

How was your week like?

 

 

Singapura 2011: Night Safari

After that tiring shopping spree at Bugis Street, we headed for another adventure at the Singapore Night Safari. To get there, one has to take a bus that traverses the same route going to Singapore Zoo.

There is this statue near the entrance and we just had to take a picture with it.

After buying your tickets, head to the Tram Station to board the little tram that would take you around the whole jungle.

I do not have pictures of the Safari ride because flash photography is highly prohibited; the flash could startle the nocturnal animals around so you’ll just have to take my word for it – IT WAS AMAZING! I say it was the perfect way to end that tiring day as all we needed to do was sit back, relax, and take in the beauty of the jungle at night.

At the onset, I was skeptical if the animals were really alive and not just some real-animal-looking-mechanical-things. Upon closer look, they ARE real! They move around silently, minding their own business. Because the animals are free to roam around, not seeing them in their designated area was not a cause for panic. As the guide said, you have to keep your eyes peeled as you never know where the animals are. It’s amazing how the animals are so tamed! I kept wondering if an animal has ever gotten astray and had a fight with the other more territorial animals. LOL.

After the safari ride, we were just in time for a live animal show. They trained these nocturnal animals to do cute tricks for the audience. At one point, the host announced that one of their pets have gone missing and that we all had to check under our seats if it was there. Then they asked one certain person to stand from his seat because they think the pet could be under his chair. And indeed, it was there! It was a huuuuuuge python which needed to be carried by 5 assistants! WTF right?

Anyway, we headed for dinner after the show. There were a good number of restaurants near the entrance but we chose to eat at Bongo Burgers. We had some deeeee-leee-cious pasta and chicken. Omnomnom!

They served their drinks in these cute little jars. So cool! Their plates also had interesting animal patterns.

Ate Diane noted that it’s the best chicken she’s ever had in Singapore, so far. Pretty dope, huh?

The next day, we went back the same route to visit Singapore Zoo.