Un Bel Di (One Fine Day)

Me at SM Aura's roof deck garden

Not even the recent gas explosion in BGC's Serendra II could ruin it for me! I was in the area with my BUBBY the night it happened but earlier in the day, we just went gallivanting in the outlets and the malls browsing through the stores and checking out items that could be included in our individual bucket lists.

Bonifacio High Street

For starters, we were dressed to the nines and prepared to be appropriately dressed for dinner somewhere in one of Serendra's  fab restaurants. But since we wanted to find out what the hype was all about, our first stop was at SM Aura. Sarah Jessica Parker was in Manila to grace the ribbon cutting and soft opening of SM's new "jewel". So why the heck not visit it?

Me at the Bonifacio Hight Street ampitheater

It wasn't that huge and we were quite surprised but since the mall is spanking new, we enjoyed the still half empty mall and sparse human traffic. It was mid morning and the movie ticket we purchased wasn't until 2:50 p.m. Walking around made us hungry but we didn't want to ruin our appetite so we settled for a few snacks... bottled water and cupcakes from Slice.

choco choco cupcake by Slice

I picked up a deep dish peanut butter cupcake and a carrot cupcake (trying to be healthy?) and Bubby picked a triple choco cupcake that had rivulets of chocolate rosette frosting. The two cupcakes I picked were substantially heavy considering they were a bit small in size. The peanut butter one was quite similar to a Reese's peanut butter cupcake in flavor but not as sweet and the outer portion was crisp and a little harder to hold in the filling inside. 

Carrot cupcake and deep dish peanut butter cupcake from Slice

Then there was the movie which we watched at the Director's Club cinema. We purchased some popcorn and drinks before the screening of Hangover 3 not knowing that there was free popcorn in the theater as well. So we had three popcorn tubs and bottles of water and iced tea for the movie. We were having so much fun we didn't mind walking around some more and taking photos on the roof deck garden then out towards Bonifacio High Street.

Cupcakes by Sonja Red velvet, chocolate icing and sprinkles and  banana cupcake

It wasn't long before merienda time saw us getting into Cupcakes by sonja's tiny atellier. I chose chocolate creme filled cupcake while Bubby picked a red velvet cupcake and a peanut butter cupcake. We went walking around Bonifacio Hight Street some more to burn off the sugar rich cakes we've been eating. Before we knew it, dinnertime was looming and we back-tracked to find a reasonably priced restaurant that had tempting food.

Grapefruit fizz

According to Bubby's google search, Mamou was a good choice. It was quite early still so we were readily accommodated for dinner.  We had a corner table for two and we were vacillating on ordering too much food. The servings were substantial and could be shared by two people on a diet. 

Truffle cream pasta and fish fingers from Mammou

We ordered the Truffle cream pasta which was a favorite of foodies. The pasta was cooked to a fine al dente with the generous cream sauce lending its salty, distinctly truffle taste on it. The Kurobuta Mamou-Katsu was served on a bed of red organic rice. Obviously a take-off from the Japanese tonkatsu, the meat was encrusted in a flaky breading and a side serving of onion based sauce came with it. And the Fish fingers which was an appetizer was big enough for both of us to share and enjoy as a viand on its own. Bill total came down to a little over P1,200.00 which isn't bad at all considering we had to doggie bag what we couldn't consume.

Kurobuta Mamou-katsu

As we were stepping out of the restaurant, we heard a loud explosion that rocked the ground we were standing on. We feared for a terrorist attack so we immediately left for safer ground and to soothe of frazzled nerves. We ended up having Cake Club's signature Le Royale which was a hazelnut crisp based chocolate dessert dusted with rich powdered coco. What a way to cap a perfect day!  We went home before nine p.m. fully sated and longing for another day quite like it soon...

Cake Club's Le Royale

Thanks, Bubby! That was some experience. ;-)

Baybay's Simple Food

Pako salad

By now, you must have figured out that I've been visiting Baybay, Leyte for a few years now... So in the interest of writing something new about the place, I've found a new slant in the article - the FOOD!

Kilawin'g Tuna

I've been raving about the warmth of the people and the natural beauty of the place but rarely have I written about the food I've been served at that place. How would you like it if, you went to a place and was constantly urged to try whatever the hosts made... from scratch?

Okra salad

None of the snacks, meals, viands and delicacies were complicated to make. Just fresh produce of greens and fruit, fish freshly caught off the sea (some still jumping) and plain herbs and spices that were either made into a dish called kilawin (a local version of ceviche, or derivative thereof), tola or tinola (fish in boiling hot broth flavored with ginger and garlic), or simply pan fried in oil, or grilled in hot coals.

Tinola Tuna panga with malunggay

Whichever way the meals were cooked, every piece was a delicious morsel that had that unmistakable taste of freshness. I tried my best to not gorge myself to indigestion... which was difficult. It was not impossible though, so i limited my carb intake...

Palitaw

However, the desserts were another hard challenge to tackle... it wasn't just sprinkled with sugar... some were made out of glutinous rice or sweet potato. Definitely a calorie-laden variety of sweets! They were yummy, though... so even when I was on my strict diet, I had to give in a few times. Okay, more than a few... so there was no choice but to try little bits of everything...

Turon with Langka

Note to self: Next time bring Carb Trim!