chinese food – BRYOLOGUE

Craving for Chinese Food

July 18, 2022bryologue Leave a Comment

One great thing about Mon and I’s work set-up is that we are sometimes able to go anywhere on a whim. We had been chatting lately in passing that perhaps, we could drop by Ongpin and just have lunch. And today, we did.

With the rising oil prices, we had been trying to cut back on taking Grab. I think it is one of those conscious choice we had to make that even if we can afford it, it does not mean we had to do it.

We took a jeepney and then the LRT going to Manila.

Old Manila has always fascinated me. If the weather permits or if we have time, we usually just scoot around Manila especially towards dusk. There’s really something that’s very charming about this cityscape in the evening.

With full knowledge that we have a very problematic past as a country, I am still always in awe of Old Manila’s architecture and the what ifs if we were able to maintain its grandeur.

And I also always imagine the stories that these structures could tell. Only if the Intramuros walls could talk!

Hello Ongpin!

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Aujourd’hui c’est son anniversaire

March 18, 2022bryologue Leave a Comment

Finally, a birthday celebration outside.

When the pandemic went full swing in 2020, the nationwide lockdown was about 3 days before Mon’s birthday. We had planned an eat-all-you-can dinner that time, but for obvious reasons. It was cancelled. Even the succeeding days before it, we were thinking how to get the refund for the pre-payment we made. When the prolonged lockdowns eventually reared its ugly head, it was obvious that it has ravaged more livelihood and employment. Our worries were severely paltry and negligible.

Since around mid-February 2022, things were looking up. Numbers-wise, since the end of the Omicron wave around January, there were less cases (and deaths, which frankly should be zero — a death is a death, even one). Vaccination rates are high. Or it might just be really the election period upon us that led to the relaxing of the restrictions.

The fire extinguisher — people will probably think it’s a Jeff Koons. (Yes. that’s an SATC reference)

So for today, we finally decided to have dinner at Greenbelt and (supposedly) watch a movie. Nothing out of ordinary.

It was a humid summer’s evening, but it did not prevent me from wearing my usual uniform: a black shirt. I decided to be dressier than usual and put on jeans instead of shorts. =) Nevertheless, my flip flops were intact. Imagine me walking around these around this new area where the LV store was transferred to, together with other designer stores. I did not care about it, to be honest, as I just really wanted to be inside an air-conditioned place. Continue Reading →

Food trip to compensate for the ‘lost’ Baguio trip!

February 2, 2013bryologue 2 Comments

We did NOT push through with our Baguio trip. There I said it. However, as it was not that well-planned, it was no surprise for us that we did not continue with it. I only began searching for guesthouses yesterday but all of the people I asked had no vacant rooms.

It then took me a few hours to realize the reason for this — it was Panagbenga Festival season in Baguio City now. How did I miss that crucial part? Maybe because I was under the impression that the festival happens on the summer months (i.e. March to May) but I was honestly not that enthusiastic to visit Baguio when there will surely be a lot of tourists around. We could have gone yesterday but decided to just spend the day together and eat, eat and eat. =D

We can always go back to Baguio on the latter months of the year, when Ikle will be back in the country, finishing his graduate thesis.

We first got our tickets for our 7:25 PM movie in the fourth floor. Good thing we reserved our seats the night before on SureSeats because aside from the number of people queuing for tickets, all of the seats for Jackie Chan’s Chinese Zodiac (a.k.a. CZ12) were either reserved or sold already.

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