Food Overload, Here We Come!

Finally, the day that I have been waiting for has finally arrived: It's our food tasting day! Grabe, di ako mapakali! Sorry, it's our first time to go to a food tasting event so expect me to be mucho excited about it. :)

Because we have three grand food tastings to attend (Lina Vitan, Hizon's, and Patio de Tata Roque), I also listed three essential things to bring today:

1. Camera - to take pictures of the delicious food. But mainly because we are camwhores. Haha! Of course, I don't know if we are allowed to take pictures during the event so guerilla mode na lang siguro.
   
   
2. Maps - Since I am a certified failure in giving directions, it's better not to take any chances. Thanks to Google Maps, I  printed out maps with specific directions going to the respective venues: Oasis Manila for Lina Vitan, Light of Love for Hizon's and Marikina for Patio de Tata Roque. Ang laking tulong talaga ng Google.
   
   
3.  Our hungry stomachs - 'Nuf said. :)

We are ready to eat!

I'll post a longer entry on this once I get home later. In the meantime, let the food tasting adventure begin! :)

Wedding Theme: Tropical Paradise!

I've always wanted to have a wedding on a beach, but since a destination wedding is very expensive and the Catholic Church doesn't allow priests to preside over weddings anywhere other than a church, then this is out of the question.

So, if we can't go to the beach for our wedding, then why not bring the beach to our wedding? And thus, our wedding theme was born: an indoor beach wedding! :) Since Mox and I love going to the beach—he's a surfer boy and I'm a wannabe beach bum—then the beach theme aptly describes our personality as a couple. Plus, our wedding will be held in April, so the summer season complements our theme perfectly. :)

I'm still thinking of ways on how to incorporate the beach theme into our wedding since we don't have the budget to hire an event stylist. I can ask our caterer if they can add beach elements to our reception decor, but I guess I also have to squeeze what little creative juice I may have to bring our ideas into reality. Good luck na lang sa akin. Haha!

Here are some of the pegs that I've found through my best friend, Google. :)

 

Photo from Micanonymous

P.S. We've modified our theme to "Tropical Paradise" to veer away from the usual beach theme. Now I need to search for more pegs! :)

Weekend Love

This must have been one of, if not, the busiest weekend ever! So read at your own risk because this will be one LONG blog entry. Haha!

THURSDAY
Since our team follows Dubai time, our workweek ends on Thursdays. So to celebrate the weekend and Jerhmie's birthday, we went to Music Match in Ortigas Home Depot to eat, drink and sing our hearts out. Kami na ang mga addict sa videoke! This was my first time to go out with my new officemates so I was pretty excited to just relax and have fun with them.

This was my first time in almost 10 months to go out and drink with office friends. Di na nga ako sanay uminom eh. But what I missed more than the drinking itself is the camaraderie between colleagues that these office gimiks seem to inspire. I'd never thought I would experience that again, but last Thursday's videoke nightout proved me wrong. :)  

FRIDAY
Despite having only three hours of sleep and a mild hangover from last night's videoke gimik, I still went to The Wedding Library's Weddings & Debuts 2012 bridal fair at Megatrade Halls 1 to 3 to meet prospective suppliers and of course get some more fliers! :)

One thing is for sure, the bridal fair is definitely one of the biggest events that I've attended so far. It took me almost three hours to go around each and every booth. I even had a list of all the exhibitors just to check whether I passed by all of them. Ang bigat na tuloy ng bag ko sa sobrang dami ng brochures at fliers. But all in all, it was worth it because I saw a lot of different suppliers and I had a free make-up trial with Monique Cruz of Natural Glow Makeup, which was perfect because I got a date with Mox later in the evening. Nakalibreng makeup pa tuloy ako para sa date. Too bad, I didn't have a picture of my face before and after the trial. But rest assured, maganda pa rin naman ako. Hahaha!

In other news, Mox and I finally had our Valentine's date at Cafe Juanita. It's a little cafe near Kapitolyo in Pasig that serves Filipino and Japanese dishes. We ordered bagnet, buro (a vegetable dish) and garlic pepper squid. The ambience was homey and at the same time romantic, and the food was delicious, although we quickly became full after drinking too much mango shake and water because the garlic pepper squid was so spicy. It was also a bit pricey—our bill reached more than a thousand pesos for just the two of us—but overall it can still be a great dating place.

 

 

Yummy bagnet :)

Mox also gave me a flower as a gift, but I was more giddy over his usual greeting card because he finally wrote a more kilig-inducing message than his "Mahal na mahal kita beh mwah simple lang!" note that he always write. Naks, nagiging romantiko na siya. Haha!

SATURDAY
I accompanied my best friend, my fiance and some friends to watch the Liv5 concert in Trinoma. It featured five pop-punk bands from the U.S.: The Ready Set, A+ Dropouts, The Summer Set, Forever The Sickest Kids and A Rocket To The Moon. I started listening to pop punk because of my best friend's influence, but I was not familiar with all the bands that played, except for A Rocket To The Moon. Dinaig pa nga ako ng mga high school kids dun kasi mas alam pa nila ang mga kanta kesa sa akin.

A funny sidenote: We didn't have tickets for the concert so we were just standing outside the venue, trying to catch a glimpse of the bands at the big TV screen. Suddenly, an event organizer asked us if we want to go in and watch for free, so of course we agreed! Naawa siguro sa amin kasi kami lang nagtiyagang maghintay at manuod sa labas. Haha!

The concert lasted for four hours and ended at around 9pm. Then we spent almost two hours walking around Trinoma, searching for a place to eat. Because it was almost 11pm, most of the restaurants were already closing. Good thing, KFC was still open so we were still able to grab some dinner before heading home. We even took advantage of KFC's photobooth since there are only a few people left. Napuno ata namin yung buong screen nila ng mga pictures namin. Camwhore na camwhore. Haha! Too bad, we couldn't get a copy of our pictures. Booooo!

Overall, it was a great but tiring weekend. Next week, it will probably be even more tiring because Mox and I will try to squeeze in two food tasting sessions into our schedule. Excited na akong mabusog. :)

Eat All You Can!

Everyone knows that planning a wedding has always been a woman's thing, and the men only have to sign the check and look in disbelief at the astrocious wedding bill. But if there's one thing that men are really excited about in the wedding preparations, it's the food tasting sessions with different caterers. Imagine having all those delectable dishes in front of you, ready to be eaten. It's like an all-you-can-eat buffet, but even better because it's all for free!

Even I am excited to attend different food tastings. In fact, I already signed up for two food tasting events on February 26. One is with Lina Vitan Catering at the Oasis Gallery, from 10:00am to 4:00pm, and the other one is with Patio de Tata Roque at their commissary in Marikina, from 4:00pm to 7:00pm. Oh diba, isang araw ng kainan yan. Anong diet-diet?! Di uso sa akin yan. Panindigan na ang pagiging chubby. Haha!

I'm particularly excited about the food tasting with Patio de Tata because they are our preferred caterer for the wedding, so that would be the perfect time to evaluate their dishes and their sample set-ups. Plus, the food tastings would serve as our Valentine's and monthsary date rolled into one. It's like hitting two birds with one stone. In short, wala kaming perang pang-date kaya dun na lang kami sa libreng food tasting. Kuripot na kung kuripot. Hehe.

Okay, now I'm searching for more caterers that are offering grand food tastings for the quarter. Looks like Josiah's offering one this March 25. Hmm, I wonder if I could get out of work for that. Wag na lang magtrabaho, magpakabondat na lang tayo. Haha!

Excited na akong kumain! (Photo grabbed from Lina Vitan Catering)

Kelangang paghandaan ang food tasting: Magsuot ng leggings!
(Photo grabbed from Patio de Tata Roque)

The Unlucky One

Am I just accident-prone or is luck really avoiding me lately? Not one, not two, but THREE unlucky incidents happened to me today.

1. Had a mini-blackout for a few seconds while driving (which I still couldn't understand how it happened), so I collided with a Hyundai Tucson. Good thing it was just a minor collision, leaving just a few scratches on both vehicles, but that accident still cost me about P2,800.
   
   
2. The bus I was riding on my way to work was apprehended by the MMDA, so I was 10 minutes late for work. My first late ever.
   
   
3. The sole of my right shoe fell off while I was walking so I had to drag my feet all the way to Megamall. 

No luck for me

Three strikes and you're out! Oh where's my good luck charm when I needed one? Let's just hope for a better day tomorrow.

Officially a Wedding Addict

Ever since I got engaged, all I could think about are weddings, weddings and more weddings! I've browsed wedsites, blogs and forums for possible suppliers and tips on how to go about with the wedding preps. I've watched several SDEs and save-the-date videos from various wedding videographers. I've even downloaded countless pegs for wedding gowns, invitations, escort cards and even wedding shoes. I think Mox and my friends are getting a bit irritated with me because all I kept talking about are our wedding plans. Akala mo naman napakalapit ng kasal namin eh sa 2014 pa naman kami. Oo na, ako na ang excited. Haha.

I know I promised to post some of our wedding inspirations here in my blog but I can't seem to get a hold of my ideas yet. There are just so many of them that it would take me some time to sort them all out. Masyado ata akong nadala sa pagpaplano eh. Don't worry, I'll probably post an entry regarding our possible wedding theme and motif this weekend. Gah, I'm turning into a wedding addict!

Guess how many times the word "wedding" appeared in this blog entry. Answer: 11

BV Day

I just spent the whole day with Mox and yet I still feel a bit depressed and weepy. Mox kept on asking me what was wrong but I couldn't answer him because I didn't even know myself. I even started crying on my way home for no reason at all! As in super hagulgol with matching emo songs on the background. Pang-soap opera ang drama ko kanina. Hay, nababaliw na ata ako. :(

I really don't know why the sudden negative vibes. Maybe I'm starting to feel the pressure of saving up for the wedding, especially since there had been numerous financial setbacks and unexpected expenses that would throw off our whole budget plan. Ngayon lang kasi namin narealize ang hirap sa pag-iipon ng pera para sa kasal. Maybe I'm just having post-PMS blues (if there is such a thing). Or maybe I just miss my daily dates with Mox that our once-a-week routine now is not enough for me. Whatever the reason is, I hope that all these bad vibes would just let me be. Nakakasira ng ganda ang palaging malungkot. Haha.

I seriously need a hug right now.

No Cake Please

Whenever I would say that we might not get a wedding cake for our wedding, people would look at me in disbelief and say, "Di pwede yun! Dapat may cake!" It's as if I've committed a grave sin if I didn't have a three-tiered cake at our reception.

Honestly, I do not understand why it is such a big deal to have a wedding cake. I know it's for the cake-cutting ceremony, but we plan not to have that tradition in our wedding. (In fact, we'll probably omit most wedding traditions in our program, like bouquet toss and the couple's first dance, but that is another story.) Sorry, but I find it cheesy and embarassing to have Mox "help" me cut the cake. It reminds me too much of my childhood birthdays when people would force me to pose for pictures while holding a knife and pretending to cut my birthday cake. Ang corny sobra. Ugh.

I'm also not a fan of fondant cakes, which are usually used for weddings. The only cake I like is Goldilock's Chocolate Roll and only because I can lick the icing on its sides. But I doubt that could be used as a wedding cake. Besides, it's not like everyone could get a slice of cake. Most three-tiered cakes have only one edible layer—the bottom tier—while the two top tiers are made from styrofoam. I don't think the guests would like to taste that. Haha.

Now don't let me get to the price of the cake. Conventional wedding cakes cost an average of P10,000 or more, especially if it's customized to your theme or motif. Yes, a customized wedding cake would look good in wedding photos, but I still think it is not worth spending thousands of pesos for. I would rather spend that amount of money on my wedding gown or hair and make-up. Di hamak naman na mas maganda akong picturan kesa sa wedding cake noh! Haha!

Of course, if someone would offer to sponsor a wedding cake for us, then who am I to refuse that generous offer? But if not, then the cake would be the least priority in our wedding budget. A much better alternative would probably be a cupcake tower so that more guests would be able to enjoy the "cake", but I'm a bit iffy about that idea as well because it is also expensive. Oh well, I'll just look for cheaper options.